Sweater Boy

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[susansvasquez]

mrwinnschott:

“Yeah, fast,” Winn muttered, eyes glued to the monitor. It was hard to tell, given that his head looked smaller than a penny, but he seemed to be speaking. “He’s–audio!” Winn said, hastily glancing around for the toggle switch. He turned up the volume to catch whatever the party crasher was demanding, if the gestures were anything to go by.

“–and Lex Luthor? Get them out–”

Not good. Not even a little bit good. “I’ll start a scan on the alien database,” Winn said, typing a few keywords into the search. “But he looks real humanoid, and to be exhibiting powers in a shifted shape…Is that a suit?”

Hearing Lex Luthor’s name sent a shiver down her spine. Get them out? “Is he talking about Lex and Lillian? Crap, this is a hundred kinds of not good.” Winn hadn’t been at the DEO last year when Barry had been around. The guy had proven himself pretty useful. Having someone with those abilities against them was not going to be fun.

“Not alien,” she answered, just on instinct. “Barry was a meta-human. Can you scan for people whose medical files show the meta-gene and cross-check with connections to Lex?” She shook her head. “Who am I kidding? Of course you can. We can.” Her fingers were already typing away. Supergirl appeared on the monitor, reasoning with the stranger. “We’re looking him up right now, Kara,” Vasquez said into her earpiece. “Keep him talking.”

[mrwinnschott]

Hearing Lex Luthor’s name sent a shiver down her spine. Get them out? “Is he talking about Lex and Lillian? Crap, this is a hundred kinds of not good.” Winn hadn’t been at the DEO last year when Barry had been around. The guy had proven himself pretty useful. Having someone with those abilities against them was not going to be fun.

“Not alien,” she answered, just on instinct. “Barry was a meta-human. Can you scan for people whose medical files show the meta-gene and cross-check with connections to Lex?” She shook her head. “Who am I kidding? Of course you can. We can.” Her fingers were already typing away. Supergirl appeared on the monitor, reasoning with the stranger. “We’re looking him up right now, Kara,” Vasquez said into her earpiece. “Keep him talking.”

“Meta-human?” Winn mouthed a quick wow as he typed. “Yup, yup, yup,” The database of metahumans was, thankfully, not as extensive as the alien registry, and the data immediately organized into a tight list. Of course, cross-checking with Lex’s name only eliminated a handful. “There’s a lot here--wait, let’s pull a facial scan.”

Pulling a quick image off the monitors, as thankfully, Supergirl seemed to keep him talking, just as Vasquez said. Winn pulled up a file, and tossed it onto the shared monitor between them, “God, there’s practically nothing here.”

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[mrwinnschott]

“Out of the gutter? But that’s where I live.” Vasquez smirked, chuckling as she eyed Winn out of the corner of her eye. They’d become experts at keeping things interesting while they were on surveillance duty. She followed Winn’s directions, checking out the woman he’d pointed out. “Interesting. So you don’t think escorts splash out on the latest trends? My money is on this girl, next to the washed up actor. That smile is so fake, and he’s a regular at the gay clubs downtown.”

Before she and Winn could settle their bets though, there was a flashing blur across one of the cameras. “What the–yeah, I saw it.” She switched to a wide angle, and the blur had come to a stop on the stage. “Whoa, that ain’t Barry, but he sure moves like him.”

“Yeah, fast,” Winn muttered, eyes glued to the monitor. It was hard to tell, given that his head looked smaller than a penny, but he seemed to be speaking. “He’s--audio!” Winn said, hastily glancing around for the toggle switch. He turned up the volume to catch whatever the party crasher was demanding, if the gestures were anything to go by.

“--and Lex Luthor? Get them out--”

Not good. Not even a little bit good. “I’ll start a scan on the alien database,” Winn said, typing a few keywords into the search. “But he looks real humanoid, and to be exhibiting powers in a shifted shape...Is that a suit?”

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[mrwinnschott]

“Hype? I mean, guess it depends on your measure of success. If being awesome at flings is what you’re going for, then yeah, I’m your guy, but if you’re looking for someone to come home to, having a secret evil alien hunting job kinda gets in the way.” You could only cancel on so many dates before people got sick of it and demanded to know the truth, but Vasquez made a good sport. She really wasn’t looking for anything serious anyway, and she kept her humor.

“One day you’re going to make a tall, muscular jock very happy. They say opposites attract.” Her shit-eating grin had spread across her whole face as she nudged Winn in the arm. “But that’s not the kind of action we’re talking about, is it?” So far, so good. It was exactly what Vasquez had expected, a bunch of high society do-gooders who came for the photo op and the good press. “We should play a game of guess which ones brought escorts.”

“What? No, pssh,” Winn said, deflecting away from the conversation. “Get your mind out of the gutter, c’mon, we’re on the clock.” He said, tapping his wristwatch as if it was a shield against the train of thought. He was off the game for a while--after his last few encounters with dating, he was far too tired to try anything else for a bit.

“I like it, I like it--keeping it classy..” He muttered, glancing back at the monitor. He scanned the crowd. “Alright, check out cam. 4--in the green? That dress is old, chiffon was hot two seasons ago, that’s where my money’d be.” He toggled between views again. Wait. Was that--he clicked back, thinking that he saw a blur in one of them. Was someone trying to hack them? The screen showed nothing. Winn clicked forward a few views. “Vasquez, are you seeing--”

[sxpermanspal-blog]

Working Late  [ James & Winn ]

[mrwinnschott]

“Got it,” James acknowledged, taking a glance over his cover, not even waiting for a break in fire. It took him a few moments to think of a game plan, but when he did, he wasted no time in carrying it out. He vaulted over the crate, firing a line at the feet of one of the gunmen, managing to snag two of them at once in the process. Then, just to be fancy, he leaped up and twisted in the air, pulling those two toward him with the rotation. Now came time to slam one in the chest with his shield, and land a knockout punch to the face on the other - which he did.

In a split second call, he spotted an opening on one of the remaining three, grappling them and managing to make face impact pillar in another successful knockout. He took cover once again, a proud smirk hidden by his helmet. “How are we looking now?”

There was something about watching the fighting that was equal parts first person melee combat and car crash. Of course, he was glued to the action, and focused, but there was something about it that felt like he shouldn’t be watching. But, he tossed another handful of skittles into his mouth and toggled between views.

“Good, good, nice--punch!” Win said quickly, calling responses to the action. "You're killing it! Except not because of the whole vigilante thing." Winn checked the monitors, most of the criminals looked down for the count, but one seemed to be struggling up to his feet. One of the bigger ones, he looked real mean to Winn, the kind of guy who started a bar fight because he was bored, and waiting for the cops so he could fight them too.

"Uhhhhh, we've got a code Z--back in the far right by the alley."

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

J’onn smiled down at Winn as he headed to the coffee. There was something about being asked advice that made J’onn happy, maybe because it made him feel that he was more than just an old man with all the young ones around. “You can always come to me for advice, Winn.” He paused letting a small hum pass through his lips.

“Well, it’s not necessarily an all or nothing thing.” J’onn thought aloud, “Perhaps we, the DEO, could work something out. I’m assuming you are talking about LutherCorp?”

“Oh, yeah,” Winn said, letting the sneaky pretense fall away. Who would really care, at 9:37pm in a convenience store, what they were talking about? He grinned at J’onn’s promise--he had long outgrown his childhood search for a father figure, at least, he told himself that.

But he was shocked. He hadn’t even considered that they could coexist--he just admitted defeat. “Really?” Winn asked excitedly, “Because that would be, like amazing. But it’s not like the baddies take weekdays off. What if something happened and I was over there?”

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[mrwinnschott]

Vasquez snickered, lightly smacking Winn in the arm with a playful sibling-like gesture. “Hey, is James Olsen a straight guy? He probably loves his sports. That man is equal parts hot jock, equal parts sensitive artist. It’s practically offensive.” James was a great guy, the kind of person who didn’t make you feel on edge. The opposite really. He made you feel secure around him, and it was all completely genuine. “And anyway, I’m not exactly unfamiliar with your precious nerd culture either. I like to think of myself as best of both worlds.”

Her eyes were on the cameras and monitors almost the entire time they had been talking, on the lookout for any suspicious activity. This was the kind of event that would be a potential target for anyone who wanted to send a message to ‘alien rights activists’.

“It’s a good suit, alright. You don’t need me to kiss your ass. It looks hot, it’s functional, that blue is to die for. What more could you want?” she teased with a grin.

Winn put his hands up jokingly, “Wow, Vasquez, hyping yourself up a little, huh?” He laughed a little, “You know what they say about all the good ones.” Winn popped another morsel into his mouth, he was just starting to get snack-hungry. 

“What could I want? Hmmm,” he trailed off in thought, “I’m not saying anything terrible, but maybe a little action. I mean--” He gestured toward the monitor he was haphazardly watching, “I love the red carpet as much as the next person, but the business men and their black tie isn’t lending itself to much.” A small movement dragged his attention back to the screen. “Ooh, someone doesn’t have a date, shocking stuff.”

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[mrwinnschott]

“You and the straight boys have the market cornered on sports,” Winn laughed, “And you can keep it.” He glanced back at the monitor, after all, they were supposed to be working or something. The event crews were just clearing out, and a quick glance at his watch confirmed that the guests of honor would be arriving shortly.

Winn reached over to grab one of the salmon creations. “Delicious,” he said, popping it into his mouth and grabbing another for later. Or maybe he would eat it now--James picked some damn good caterers.

"I mean, come on, would it even be a supersuit if it couldn't be washed? The Girl of Steel's gotta have the maximum amount of saving-cats-in-trees time." Winn chuckled, "Besides, function over form, right?"

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

Winn shifted his weight between his feet. He didn’t really need to say anything covert. He wasn’t even really sure what he was asking. Had the DEO figured out cloning or invented a time turner? Could he be in two places at once? “Oh, no, no, you get coffee, I’ll walk with you.

Taking a second to pause and think about how to parse it into something he could say in public. "I guess it's not even really a job thing, more like just your advice?" Winn started, upturn taking over his sentences. "I mean, I love working with you and everyone, really, I do and it's great. But what if I got another offer from a really high tech industry leading company where the boss is like really cool--like, she's the coolest probably?" Winn sighed, "I guess I just feel terrible turning it down."

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

[mrwinnschott]

Vasquez had practically begged to be put on surveillance, although not quite literally, because apparently those sort of things were unbecoming of a DEO agent. Pouting at J'onn was only cute (and only effective) when Kara did it. Instead she’s volunteered with a simple “I’ll do it,” and a few hours later, here she was, sitting next to Winn with a pile of stolen snacks from James Olsen’s expensive catering team.

“Quarter Mill?” she puzzled, looking over at Winn. “Depends what’s up first. They’ll probably save the big ticket things like the yacht for last. Can you imagine not only having enough cash to bid on these things but to be able to donate them too?” Vasquez took a drink of her Red Bull, not wanting to dull her senses with alcohol while she was on duty and gave a small eye roll. “Crazy. By the way, did Kara have to get your written consent to donate one of the prototype Supergirl costumes or did she just bat her eyes?”

Winn rooted around through the binder clipped pile next to his keyboard, “Let’s take a looksie, shall we?” He kept looking through the brief, he knew it was somewhere, but when it came to remembering things in hard copy, sometimes his brain shorted out. “Ah! Autographed sports memorabilia from a buncha National City athletes. Hm, over or under five hundred?” Winn whistled, “Yeah, just for five minutes of product placement, crazy.”

Suddenly, it became very important that he pick some specks of dust out of the keyboard. “What? That doesn’t matter--there was definitely a ‘please’ involved--and besides, it’s not like the DEO would be too happy to see my signature anywhere near the Supergirl brand, right?” He glanced around the desk to change the conversation. “So, what are the hors d'oeuvres?”

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

While working on some paperwork J’onn had been hit by a wave of tiredness and was dismayed to find that he had run out of his favourite instant coffee. Unfortunately, he knew that the paperwork was due tomorrow and he’d never be able to finish it in time without the aid of caffeine. Begrudgingly, he grabbed his coat to venture down to the store a couple of blocks away.

The air was pleasant, with only a hint of chill with the wind that his coat protected him against. He found himself reminiscing about the weather on Mars, the coolness of the climate and how he was glad that Earth’s climate was significantly warmer.

He was lost in thoughts of his children when he had arrived at the store, and almost missed Winn until the agent spoke. “Oh – Winn, hello.” J’onn managed a small smile.

He glanced down at the dropped bags, “Stocking up for something?”

Despite the rest of his unusual childhood, Winn remembered the strange sensation of seeing one of his teachers in line at the grocery store. Seeing your boss was worse. Much worse and much more odd. Especially your alien shapeshifting boss just casually popping into the Quick Mart.

“Hi, um, yeah. You know me, late night of coding software and stuff that I do, on my free time.” Winn said, smiling through the tiny ripple of panic. “You know, actually, it’s funny that you would be here--I was going to talk to you tomorrow, about things and stuff, like job stuff?”

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

Winn’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. It was the easiest networking he’d ever done–and if he was actually working freelance, he would have accepted right on the spot. A job with L-Corp would mean being on the forefront of technology–and being wrapped up in all the scandal of the name. But there was no way he could put in two sets of 9-5 days, and still stay alive long enough to work the van.

“I mean I wouldn’t say it’s preference, but it’s where I got my start so…nostalgia? I guess. But, I would love to–yeah, wow–” He started, his free hand drifting up to the pocket where she left her card. The gesture felt almost flirtatious, like another reel to get him hooked. Was he imagining that?

“Great, yeah. I’ll see you there, hopefully with good news.” He bit down lightly on his tongue, what was that supposed to mean? God, there was a reason the DEO stuck him behind a desk. “I’ll, uh, leave you to your shopping then,” he said, opening the door once again.

[mrwinnschott]

Flies on the Wall || Vasquez and Winn

It was a little amazing how quickly the DEO could turn a broom closet into a control center that could practically land a lunar explorer. Winn had signed on to help with the set-up, and the first shift of surveillance, and thankfully only needed to take a few hourly laps around the actual event. Rubbing shoulders with a Rich always made him a little nervous, and he had much more fun watching the interactions play out from the safe distance of a screen. Plugging in the last few wires into a clearcom unit under the table, he stood up and brushed the dirt off his slacks. It made him a little nostalgic for the glory days of the first Supergirl head quarters in the back room of CatCo.

Winn walked over to the chair where he left his jacket, rolling down the sleeves of his dress shirt to match the black tie dress code a little more, and leisurely swiveling his chair toward his partner for the night, Agent Vasquez. Winn was glad, while the two of them hadn't gushed their life stories to one another, Vasquez had much more of a personality than the other military technicians (who did not appreciate his nerf gun, thank you very much). "So, whatcha thinking the first item goes for? I'm feeling a nice quarter million. That's like a good charity number, right?"

[sxpermanspal-blog]

Working Late  [ James & Winn ]

[mrwinnschott]

The hum of the police scanner crackled with something--maybe a fire? Winn tossed a handful of skittles into his mouth and glanced over at his cheat sheet of police codes, but didn't have the time to check. He swatted at the scanner's power button as James' voice came on through the com.

"There were only three," Winn said, toggling back to the security camera of a nearby convenience store, and then to one of his own planted cameras. He quickly rewound some footage and watched as two more gangsters sat up from the backseat where they must have been dozing. "Oh no, James--James there's two more." He glanced at one of the other screens, "Looks like the pretty tightly packed, you might want to try to separate them and get them in smaller groups?"

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

Winn couldn't help but laugh at that. "Organic and vegan? Do you practice? I can't imagine there's much of anything in here that fits that bill." He motioned over to where the hot dog rollers were cranking away. "But if you're willing to break it, they make a great loaded cheddar chipotle hotdog--seen me through a lot of late nights."

The voice of the D.E.O. Human Resource Officer jumped back into Winn's mind. The session on How to Lie to Your Friends and Family (not even useful for him, Winn thought at the time) felt like it lasted four hours. "I worked in I. T. For a while at CatCo, with Kara, but now I'm doing some freelance stuff." Not a perfect match with the paragraph he had repeated ten times over, but close enough. Better probably. The Handbook would have told him to quit while he was ahead, but old habits were hard to break, and he added, "So, if you ever need anything?"

Realizing he had already closed the door, with both of them inside, Winn continued, "You're going to the CatCo charity thing, right?"

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

[mrwinnschott]

"Wow, yeah, that's me--I didn't think you would remember," Winn said, ducking his head down a little in embarrassment. Then again, maybe making a black burst generator was one of those things that made a person a little more memorable. He would be lying if he said he wasn't still impressed, despite everything else that happened since. And boy had it happened in spades. Of course, like with Guardian, Kara and James were split on Lena Luthor's motives as well. Winn was too busy trying to appease both of them to form an opinion of his own.

Busted. He guiltily raised the bag a little, "Oh, yes." He paused, before realizing, "Not to both, I mean. Yes to gaming. I've been, uh, really into the Street Fighter titles recently." Well, not a total lie.

"What brings you down here?" He asked, before quickly adding, "Not like you shouldn't be, that wasn't like an accusation. Just curious."

[mrwinnschott]

Sugar Rush || Open

The humming fluorescent lights lit up the wrappers in a bright array of color. Winn pawed through the shelves, looking for something with enough sugary chocolate to keep him awake and maybe something with peanuts for sustenance. The 2 A.M. hunger pangs were the absolute worst, and Winn had definitely learned his lesson about not packing snacks. He grabbed a protein bar as well, he would hate to let a hangry Guardian out on the streets. Stopping over for a soda first, Winn headed over to the register and paid. With his bags of loot in tow, he went to head out, stopping to hold the door open for whoever just turned to come into--oh no. "Oh, hey--Hi!" Winn said, a little too chipper, dropping the two incriminating plastic bags down to his side, a hopefully a little more out of sight.

[nationalcityrp]

Character Name: Winn Schott Faceclaim: Jeremy Jordan Occupation: DEO Technician Age: 26 Years Old Species: Human

Growing up, Winn followed his father around like a little shadow. What kid wouldn’t want a dad they could make their own toys with? Winn still remembers afternoons spent stitching up stuffed animals (wrong side up, so he could see the magic of turning it inside out and the seams disappearing) and painting toy soldiers. He even got his start with circuitry with his father—raiding lamps for wires to make better voice boxes and remote controls. Of course, the one thing he could not fix was the way the world saw him, as his father’s daughter, not his son. Little Winn did everything he could, running around in boys clothes, short hair—trying to mimic his father in every way. Sometimes it worked, and his father certainly seemed to like the idea of a miniature him—not that Winn ever said anything. Not that he would know how.

And he never got the chance to say anything. At eleven years old, Winn watched his father’s arrest. It would be years before he would even try to comb back through the records, piece together what the police officers told him and what he remembered with what the facts said. Winn shuffled through foster care for seven years before some well-timed scholarships helped send him to college for computer science. Three years later, he would leave without a diploma, but with a job coding for an indie game developer. They took off, and soon, Winn jumped up in the ranks. Finally comfortably situated, he took his last few steps in transitioning. Winn struggled, knowing that has things worked out properly the first time, he would have definitely been Winslow Schott jr. It was a tough choice, but he went with it—officially, though going by just “Winn” as often as he could. One of the only letters he would ever send to his father was to tell him. Four lines of text, penned down after four shots.

A final stroke of luck, one of his old college friends told him about an opening at Catco, and Winn jumped at the chance to finally work in National City. He happily accepted his job with CatCo Worldwide Media, and flew out West, determined to put as much distance between him and his past as possible.

Winn settled naturally into IT. As naturally as anyone could be around Cat Grant. In his frequent trips up to Mrs. Grant’s office—she seemed to have her finger on the trigger for calling something a technical problem—Winn fell face first into a crush that would slowly blossom into a friendship with Kara Danvers. Another stroke of luck, Kara would become Mrs. Grant’s assistant, and the two started working side by side.

When Kara confided in him that she was Supergirl, Winn threw himself into helping as much as he could. Making the iconic Supergirl suit just might be his greatest accomplishment—if you ask him. Winn thought he enjoyed working in IT, but it wasn’t until he was creating his own algorithms and scanning the police radio that he found his true calling. But, Winn struggled in the first year—his feelings for Kara, his father’s escape from prison—it seemed like the world was pushing him back for the good luck he’d had. But if Kara taught him anything, it was to have hope.

Realizing how much good he could do as a “side-kick,” Winn quit working for CatCo, and started working full-time, officially for the D.E.O. on Supergirl’s team. And, on the down low, with James on his mission to be the Guardian of National City. Trying to balance the two, and getting caught uncomfortably in the middle is stressful for Winn, and the sooner it is done, the better for his blood pressure. Still, he wouldn’t change it for the world.

Personality:

Winn is a sweetheart, sometimes more than he should be. He is quick to turn to humor, or lightness, at the first sign of trouble. He values his friends more than anything, and would be loyal to them to the ends of the earth. He is intelligent and nerdy, and not afraid to talk about it with anyone, regardless of their own interest in the subject.

Skills/Abilities:

Skilled technician

Highly intellectual

Computer programming and hacking

Sewing and textile science

Weaknesses:

Average human weaknesses

Limited physical skills

Compartmentalizing