Bullseye

]

You know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t play this crap with me, Ashley.

No, I don't Bradley. Why are you being such a jerk?

Fancy seeing you here || Natalya & Ashley

natalya-vasilyev

"Natalya?"

The tall brunette rolled her eyes and made a point out of sighing loudly, as if she was so bored and annoyed with her company that she was just about ready to throw herself out of the window. “Jackpot, well done, love, you’re the regular old Sherlock Holmes, congratulations.” This was truly and unfortunate turn of events, especially because despite her cynical ways, Natalya had taken a slight liking to the blonde who had offered her a seat at her table one particular crowded night at City Space. Honestly she had found the girl quite pliable and had never suspected she would run into her on a mission, and definitely not like this.

"Well, sweetheart you’re too late. You snooze, you lose and all that, so why don’t you just scurry on back home to wherever you came from, and tell your "superiors" that you simply couldn’t find it, alrighty?" She said in an obnoxiously light tone of voice, clearly mocking her and clearly fed up and annoyed. "And you’re damn right no one has to get hurt in all of this, but believe me, Ash, I will not hesitate one second to fill your head with lead if you as much as think about Robin Hood’ing me, comprendé?” Every word she spoke was the honest truth, and she was pretty sure it came across as that as well, giving Ashley no false sense of hope.

"And I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude here, or actually… I guess we’re way past that now anyway, but a bow and arrow? Really?! I don’t know what it is with you blondes and bows and arrows, it’s like you’re stuck in another century.” Typical Natalya, not caring about whatever situation she was in, and always ready to give anyone a piece of her mind, even when being held at… arrow-point? “Anyway,” she said and shrugged, moving on now. “I would’ve normally just shot you by now, because, well you’re in my way, but I’ll give you the chance of leaving of your own volition. You did after all give me a seat at your table. And I like blondes.” She paused now, smirking and then cocked her gun, the sound of it magnified in the silence. “But you better hurry.”

#para: natalya #fancy seeing you here

Ashley showed no sign of emotion at Natalya's response. She hadn't expected the woman to give up without a fight, and neither would she. Keeping her bow trained on the brunette, Ashley began to size up her options. Chances were if she fired off an arrow at this range, she'd hit her mark. Unfortunately that also meant that Natalya would have the chance to fire back, and have just as much of a chance of hitting Ashley. The blonde knew that she didn't have long to decide, her arms were starting to ache from the effort of keeping the bow drawn now, and she could sense that Natalya was starting to get a little antsy as well.

"You're right," Ashley sighed, relaxing her aim and lowering her weapon. "This doesn't need to end in any bloodshed," she lied, knowing very well by the time this night was done one of them could very well wind up dead in a pool of blood. The girl had already made her decision awhile back. Talk to distract Natalya, fire off a quick arrow at one of her knees and hope it would hit, diving behind cover at the same time and praying that she'd only get grazed by a bullet at best. If she managed to pulled the feat off, and it was a big if, she'd draw her tranquilizer gun and put Natalya down for the night. It was the best possible outcome, if everything went off without a hitch of course.

The girl shrugged her shoulders and turned slightly, as if she were making to leave. "Hey," Ashley said, catching Natalya's gaze. "I'm sorry." The moment the words had left her lips, Ashley drew back the bow once more and let off a snap shot in the direction of Natalya's left knee cap, diving behind a nearby desk the moment her fingers had released the projectile. She could only pray now that everything would go according to plan.

i-clarissamarie-blr-deactivated

writes ” no I can’t, so i carry a notebook around and use that. and it doesn’t sound like you’re stating the obvious lots of people have asked the same thing.”

Oh good, I see.. glad I chose to make sure. I don't mean it's good that you can't.. y'know. I'm just glad I clarified. Sorry, I can't say that I've ever spoken to someone like you before.

#c: clarissa

Downtime || Alyssa & Ashley

alyssa-wayne

Alyssa pressed her lips together, a slight frown on her face as she tried to imagine what was going on with Bradley. But doing it without constantly returning to the idea of him possibly being a Templar. Which proved to be a lot harder than she thought. It was like the more she tried to convince herself he wasn’t a Templar, the less she actually believed it. It was frustrating to say the least. She tried to shake the feeling and then return her focus to the words leaving Ashley’s lips instead though, blinking her eyes a couple of times. “I doubt that’s the problem. You can’t really train a dog not to lie down.” She said and then sighed lightly. “I’m sorry that you had such a stupid fight with him,” Speaking candidly as always, Alyssa continued with a casual wave of her hand. “But I’m sure, he’ll come to his senses and see it for what it was; stupid. He did, after all, care enough about you and Shadow to let you keep him in the first place, so it’s not exactly fair of him to get this angry.”

Alyssa kept quiet after she’d brought Bradley’s work up, watching Ashley’s face intensely when she reacted and spoke from then on. Even if she hadn’t looked at her though, she would still have been able to detect the slight change in the mood. How Ashley immediately became guarded and somewhat suspicious, even though Alyssa had tried to go about it casually. As casually as possible when it came to something like that. She could tell immediately that there was something Ashley wasn’t saying, and that she was trying to decide whether or not to say it, and even though Alyssa definitely trusted Ashley, she was mildly surprised when she actually decided to open up and share it with Alyssa anyway. Surprised but proud in a way.

"I won’t." She said after a long pause, the silence nearly too much when she spoke up. It was odd to have files lie around in kitchen cabinets, and it sure didn’t soothe Alyssa’s mind, but it could’ve been a simple mistake, that was true. "But let me ask you this, Ashley." She said now, after drawing in a somewhat deep breath, the look on her face as serious as could be. She kicked off her shoes and then pulled both her feet up onto the couch and turned towards Ashley, sitting with her legs crossed in a sort of lotus position, just a lot sloppier. "Do you know for sure that he’s not a Templar?” She held the blonde’s gaze for as long as she would allow, searching her blue eyes thoroughly. “You don’t, do you? Doesn’t it kill you though, not to know? Don’t you want to know?”

#// it's alright!#para: alyssa #Downtime

"I don't," Ashley lied, in response to Alyssa's question, shaking her head vehemently at the same time. "I don't want to know... don't need to know because I trust him. I've known him all my life, and he wouldn't.. he just couldn't be the sort of person who would do anything like that." The eye contact with Alyssa was starting to prove too much for Ashley to stomach and she was forced to look away for a brief moment. The girl sounded like she was trying too hard, as if she were trying to convince herself. She knew that there were reasons to be suspicious of course, and if it were anyone other than Bradley she would have been asking the mentor why they weren't looking into them. But this was her brother, and she knew him.

After all they'd been through together, the girl believed that her brother knew how much the freedom of choice meant, especially to her. If she weren't given that, Ashley knew the chances were she wouldn't even be standing here today; she'd probably have taken the easy way out a long time ago. Bearing that in mind, it seemed inconceivable to the girl that Bradley would join an organization hell bent on controlling everyone and everything around them, even if their ultimate goal was noble, at least a long time ago. Power corrupts, and Ashley had no doubt in her mind that the people pulling the strings of the Templars had nothing but their own selfish desires in mind.

The girl took in a deep breath before letting out a long, tired sigh. This was a path she seemed to be treading a lot lately and Ashley had started to grow a little sick of it. Each time she had this discussion, the more she began to question her own convictions regarding Bradley, and Ashley absolutely hated herself for even doubting her sibling. "Look, Alyssa.." the blonde began quietly, raising a hand to rub the bridge of her nose at the same time. "I know why you and Robert are concerned alright? Believe me, as much as I don't want to, I can see why you guys would think that way. But you've just got to trust me on this one, alright?" Ashley crossed her arms in front of herself as soon as she was done, indicating that she had nothing more to say on the matter.

i-clarissamarie-blr-deactivated

looks at strange thing on the ground

hold up sign that says ” anyone know what this is?”

Beats me, though it looks like junk.

This might sound like I;m stating the obvious, but can you not speak?

#c: clarissa

How about that little temper tantrum you had after the one time you didn’t get your way?

What temper tantrum? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!

Are you?

Me? What did I do?

Wow. Seriously?

You’re going to act like this?

Are you going to apologize yet?

So is that a yes or a no?

Don't push your luck, Brad.

But you are talking to me again. This mean you’re no longer upset?

My concern for your well-being outweighs anything else that I may be feeling.

Are you asking me if I beat myself up and stole my own shoe so you’d talk to me again?

You're right, that does sound kind of ridiculous - even for you.

Yeah, actually. One of the little shits stole my shoe.

My shoe. Who steals a shoe?

I don't know, you tell me.

Wait - this isn't a ploy to get me talking to you again, is it?

Looked like a group of teenagers. I gave the police a description as best I could.

Did they manage to take anything?

Downtime || Alyssa & Ashley

alyssa-wayne

Alyssa leaned her head to the side and propped her elbow up onto the armrest of the couch so she could support her head against her hand while listening to Ashley. Her blue eyes stayed on the blonde as she spoke, taking in every word and considering them quietly until it seemed fitting for her to talk again. Clearly this weighed heavily on Ashley’s mind, frustrating her, and Alyssa wanted to help.

"It sounds to me like something else might be bothering him and he’s just…using this whole thing about tripping over Shadow as an excuse to finally blow off some steam?" She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, still wondering what was going on with Bradley, because from what Ashley had told her previously about the man, he wouldn’t usually blow up because of a dog sleeping in front of his door. Of course she couldn’t help but wonder if he was upset because of something work related. Something Templar related? Not knowing his alliances was terribly irritating - mainly because Alyssa cared so much about Ashley, and for her sake, she really hoped he was just working for Abstergo, and not the Templars.

"Don’t take this the wrong way now, okay? I’m only asking, I’m not insinuating anything." She lifted her head from its place on her hand, looking straight at Ashley to show her she really wasn’t kidding, and that she wasn’t trying to snoop. Even though maybe she was a little bit, but at least she knew how to hide that perfectly. "But… do you know how things are at work for him at the moment? Maybe he’s stressed out. Stress does funny things to people’s tempers and their behavior." She paused for a beat, biting the inside of her cheek and letting her eyes fall to Shadow on the floor, without really looking at him. "I remember you said he’d been working late, or something? Maybe the stress is getting to him and that’s why he snapped…?" She looked up at Ashley again, the look in her eyes soft and the hint of a reassuring smile clinging to the side of her mouth.

Ashley frowned at the mention of Bradley using Shadow as an excuse to let off some of his pent-up frustrations. It certainly seemed that way, even if he wasn't usually the sort to do things like that. "I don't know, maybe. I think it's just the culmination of all the things that Shadow had done over time that finally got to him. I mean, I'm not a professional dog trainer. I do my best with whatever information I can glean from the net and stuff, but..." the girl breathed a deep sigh, as her shoulders sagged a little. "Maybe part of the blame lies with me as well, for not doing a good enough job."

"Don’t take this the wrong way now, okay? I’m only asking, I’m not insinuating anything."

That was never good. Ashley braced herself for what she knew was coming. She was aware that Robert had broached the subject of Bradley working for the Templars with Alyssa, though she was pleasantly surprised to see that her mentor had just a bit more tact regarding the matter. "No, I don't," Ashley said honestly. "Brad doesn't really like to talk about work, just as I don't like him to bring any of it home." The girl thought back to the rather odd incident a couple of days ago when she had found one of her brother's files in the kitchen cabinet. She struggled internally with the decision of whether to tell Alyssa about the incident. It was strange yes, but it also was more than likely nothing. She knew what Alyssa would think if she did tell her, but at the same time she trusted the mentor.

"Come to think of it though..." Ashley sighed, a look of guilt flashing across her features. "There was this strange incident a couple of days ago, when I found one of his files from work in the kitchen cabinet, but he took it away from me before I could read it." The blonde shook her head and sighed once more. "It's probably nothing, he said he'd just misplaced it. You know how we get forgetful sometimes right?" Ashley asked, though it sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself. She locked eyes with Alyssa, looking pleadingly at her.

"Promise me you're not going to go spying on him, alright?"

#para: alyssa #Downtime

Dinner With A View \\ Bradley & Ashley

Nothing would change how he felt about Ashley, but sometimes her stubbornness was almost too much. He watched her long and hard, internally relieved to see her put the card in her purse. “I know you do, and I know I give you a hard time from time to time, but I’ve never minded doing those things. But I’m serious Ashley.” His gaze met hers. He hated being this guy, but when the middle Rogers child dug in her heels, Bradley knew that playing nice wasn’t going to cut it. “Don’t put yourself in that ‘Nothing’s going to happen’ state of mind. It’ll only make things worse if something does happen.” Feelings up guilt welled up. Maybe doing this at dinner hadn’t been the best time. But he knew work was only going to get busier the next couple of weeks and he’d wanted to get this out of the way.

"Let’s just talk about it later, alright? I know it’s not the best time to talk about these kinds of things, but I wanted to talk to you without Amber." He didn’t apologize for bringing it up, however, simply because he wasn’t sorry. Looking down at his meal, he realized that he too wasn’t all that hungry. He knew though that he’d regret not eating if he didn’t now. So, he began to dig into the food as Ashley cut into her own. "On a better note, let’s talk about the Riverside Roast. When I was talking to Mikaela, she was pretty interested in the place. Impressed, actually." He hoped bringing up the blonde again could possibly ease some tension. Ashley had seemed to like the woman. If she still seemed upset over everything after this, maybe he’d ask Mikaela out just to please her.

As he began to eat, he was pleasantly surprised with the taste. It was’t that he’d expected the food to taste bad, but he hadn’t expected it to taste this good, either. He made a mental note that next time he brought Ashley here, he wouldn’t pour a bunch of emotional bullshit on her. Next time, he’d just let the two of them enjoy a normal meal. He looked back up at her as he chewed a bit of food, smiling as she spoke about her work. He always loved listening to her talk about what she did and what she’d accomplished. It filled him with such pride to know she’d done it all on her own.

#c: Bradley #dinner with a view

"Later's fine." Ashley said with a huff, crossing her arms in front of herself and leaning back in her chair, ignoring the plate in front of her for the time being. She'd lost any appetite she had, having seen what she had expected to be a normal, enjoyable evening with her brother turn into a rather emotional one. Glancing off to the side, the blonde picked up her glass and sipped at her drink as she cast her gaze over the city. She turned back only when Bradley had spoken up again, her stormy expression softening somewhat after she realized that her brother was trying to change the subject.

The girl's eyebrows were raised at the mention of Mikaela, and even further when Bradley told her that the woman had been interested in the Roast. "Really?" She asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "Why would she be interested in that little old place?" Ashley added, still looking slightly wide-eyed. It was a huge compliment though, having the owner of the hottest restaurant in town taking an interest in her quaint little place, and the revelation went some way towards lightening Ashley's mood.

"Work's been fine... normal. Nothing special to report really," Ashley said, finally picking up her knife and fork to start working on her meal. the blonde popped a carefully sliced piece of her sandwich in her mouth and found herself enjoying the savory chicken coupled with the tanginess of the pickles and the sauce. "I have been thinking about adding a couple of dishes to the menu though," Ashley said, after swallowing her food. She looked at her brother, bright-eyed. "Perhaps you could ask Mikaela if she had any suggestions for me? "

Of course I called the police. Ashley, I swear, I’m fine. Just a handful of bruises and a mildly hurt ego.

Well did you at least see who it was?

I’m assuming it was because they wanted to mug me. And I didn’t tell you because I literally just got home from being mugged and was looking for ice. Really, though, I’m fine. Just a little sore.

Being mugged is not fine, Brad. What happened? Did you call the cops or something?