Toya can you STOP giving him your jacket. STOP this
There's Lore to This. 🤔🤔 Akito helped Toya find his fashion sense, and he, Quite Literally, helped him Sew that Jacket… so Toya thinks his jacket belongs to Akito just as much as it belongs to him. Will never hesitate to offer it up to him — which is commendable, because Akito only ever asks for Toya's jacket when it's Late Outside and he's Drunk and Cold and admittably kinda Disgusting. Toya's a germaphobe, so it kinda means a lot that he's willing to share clothes with Akito under these conditions
Cue that one comic ..
Ok that's it thanks for coming to my ted talk
Toya thinks of Akito when he listens to The Cure. This is entirely unrelated i just think we should know this. Peak yearner energy
No control (also a song by Brand New, but the song kinda doesnt match the vibe).
wc. 2.4k
Summary: Rogue wakes up in a super mysterious room. Price talks to her. Johnny and Simon spar & smoke. Simon debriefs the mission to Price.
Rogue
I’m warm. Blood pumps through my veins, whispering in my ears to make sure I’m listening. My tongue is dry and tastes of dirt, like I’m a teenage stoner. A burning sensation rolls across my body, like every fiber fell into a deep sleep. Feeling returned in a heavy, agonizing rhythm. A sickening ache inside my shoulder; I’m not paralyzed. The pain drags itself up my neck and squirms down my arm. My heartbeat fades from my head, giving me the chance to listen.
Heavy boots beat steady against the floor outside. Laughing and light chatter follow suit. The sound of metal rattling, weights hitting the floor. Glass meeting glass in a clumsy way. Distant gunshots. I bolt upright. I am immediately reminded by the stabbing pain in my shoulder to slow down. I dropped back onto the mattress without a second thought. Reaching for my shoulder a chain tightens, stopping my wrist abruptly. I tug lightly, testing the cuff. I pull my knees up, feeling cool metal tighten around my joints. Looking down at my right hand I see no cuff, great. I squeeze my right fist, letting myself feel the pain that follows. Lifting my wrist from the mattress seems like a simple task but the quickening of my heartbeat says otherwise. I let my forearm hit the mattress.
Being left no other choice, I take in the dull surroundings. Dim light creeps its way through gray curtains, burning my pupils and wetting my eyes. The room is big, at least compared to the room Diego had given me. Space for a chair between the window and bed and a steel bedside table. The door is several steps away. I focus on the door handle, a keyhole. I’m locked in here. They really overestimated the state of my shoulder, I couldn't stop the shaking in my fingers long enough to get out of these cuffs.
But if they insist. With a shaking hand I reach for the drawer on the nightstand pulling it open. Empty. I roll onto my left shoulder, sweeping my right hand across the ground. Sand or dirt. A pebble. I pull myself back onto the mattress.
“Breathe four seconds in four seconds out. This lowers your heart rate granting you more control. Remember pain isn't a restraint, it's a baseline.”
I pull my foot towards my hip and bring my free hand to the chain wrapped around it. I feel the individual links, welded, fuck. I reach for the cuff around my wrist, following the chain to the bedframe. I feel the cold metal kiss my skin. Welded steel.
Closing my eyes again I focus on the sounds outside. Conversations too light to eavesdrop. Footsteps abruptly stop at the door. The lock jingles before the door glides open.
A man about six feet, broad shoulders. Calm footsteps. Insignia giving away his rank, captain. He watches me as he silently crosses the room, heading to the chair. As he passes the bed he looks toward the window. My eyes search his figure. He has no weapons, no holster. It seems the only thing he brought was himself. He checks his watch before taking his place in the chair.
Simon
I catch his wrist and turn with it, sending him to the mat.
“Again.” Johnny rolls onto his back with a groan before springing to his feet.
“I’m gonna win this one,” he mutters, shaking out his shoulder.
“Doubt that.”
We circle each other before he springs toward me. Kicking his leg behind mine, he brings down my knees. My hands find the mat before finding his ankle, tugging it toward me. Landing on his arse, I straddle his lower back. I grab his arm, bending it into a hammerlock until he taps.
“Alrigh’ alrigh’” He mumbles.
I stand, offering him a hand. He doesn't take it. Instead he groans and looks down at the mat.
“Heard cap is talkin’ to her,” the scott starts, I scoff.
“Aye,” I confirm. “Again.”
“Aye, y’figure if I go MIA for a couple years you’d care a little more?” Johnny pushes himself to his feet.
“Didn’ know ‘er,” I say. We circle the mat again. He shoots for my waist.
I sprawl, driving my weight through his shoulders before shoving him away.
“C’mon L.T., she was SAS. coulda been placed on our team with her track record.” he entertains the idea. “Fighting the good fight with us.”
“Suppose so,” I feint high, he doesn't bite. Good.
Johnny grins. He fakes a right hook. His strike drives into my ribs.
“There ye are.”
I step in before he can recover, catching his forearm and turning beneath it. My hip meets his center of gravity. He hits the mat with a thud. Using my weight I pin his shoulders to the mat. He taps the floor, laughing.
“Only took mentionin’ the lass to land a hit.”
I offer him my hand, he takes it and I pull him to his feet.
“‘M taking a smoke break,” I peel my gloves off as I head outside.
The door closes behind me and I grab a fresh pack. I slide the tip of my thumb along the plastic, finding the cellophane tab and tugging it open. I stash the plastic wrap into my pocket. The box opens with a familiar pop. I jam my finger through the foil seal, pulling the paper back to expose the tightly packed row of filters. I bring the box to my nose, fresh tobacco. I pull one out along with the lighter from my shoulder pocket. I pull the mask anchoring it on the bridge of my nose, the lighter warms my cheek as I light the cigarette. The smoke cascaded down, curling deep inside my chest. I held onto that hit before letting it leave in a cloud of vapor. A low electric vibration bloomed at the base of my skull and washed over my scalp. The rush made my vision warp and sharpen all at once. The door creaks open behind me.
“Knew I’d find ye here.”
I take another drag.
“Go away, Johnny.”
“Aw, c’mon. That's no way to greet your best mate.”
“Greet you? I just saw you.”
Johnny laughs. “Any time separated feels too long, if ye ask me?”
“You want one?” I hold the box towards him.
“What for?”
“Silence.”
He studies me for a beat before plucking one from the box.
“That expensive, am I?”
“Worth every penny if it works.”
Without Johnny's voice filling the silence, the base comes back into focus. Forklift whining in the distance. Gunshots and shouting from the range. It won't last long.
“Right,” Johnny says. “Ive held up my end.”
“Hardly,” I scoff.
“Caps still in there.”
I don't answer.
“Been what… forty minutes?”
I shrug.
“Rogue.”
I look over at him.
“Thats got to be a callsign,” he amuses. “Imagine your ma namin’ ye Rogue.”
“Would explain a lot.” I huff.
Johnny laughs. “Thought ye’d appreciate that one.”
“Ol’right I’ve got to hit the showers.”
“Ghost… that's the most romantic thing ye’ve said all day.”
I flick the last of my cigarette onto the concrete.
“Johnny.”
I head back inside. The corridor is quieter now, soldiers winding down. Rounding the corner, I nearly walk straight into Price. He smells faintly of coffee.
“Sir.”
Stepping aside, he gives me just enough room to pass. His eyes skim over me; sweat soaked shirt, taped knuckles, the smell of tobacco.
“Finished trainin’?”
“Aye.”
“Good,” he checks his watch. “Shower. Change. My office in thirty.”
I nod.
“Debrief?”
“Among other things.”
He walks past me without any explanation. I keep walking.
Rogue
“Comfortable?” he asks.
I stare at him for a moment, “No.” Gunshot wounds and hypothermia tend to lead away from comfort.
“Didnt think so,” he pulls a little block notebook from his pocket, jotting something down. Seconds stretch to minutes. The faint noise of his pen hitting the paper fills the room. Stops. Starts again.
“Did you come in here to study?” I ask, the corner of his mouth twitches.
“Came here to listen,” he states.
“To nothing?”
“To anythin’.” he wants me to talk.
I sit up in bed, pulling the blanket to the side with a shaky hand.
The chain on my left arm clatters.
“The lock,” he looks up at me. “On the door.”
“What about it?”
“You keep lots of prisoners here?”
“You aren't a prisoner,” his voice has been rough and tired, but these words sound warm. Soft even..
“Is that a tactic?”
“No.”
“Feels like one.”
“Most things do when you’re expecting a fight,” he informs, tucking the notebook back into his pocket. His focus is entirely on me.
I study him. His posture is relaxed, he's comfortable here.
“How’d you get here, Rogue?” he asks.
I don't respond. I don't understand why he's asking. Or what. How did I get here? In this bed? The room? The moment before this one? My memories stop and start like burnt CDs.
"You're not gettin’ out of those restraints by stayin’ quiet,” his words confirm my thoughts, I nod.
“Well captain,” I pause. “I believe I was running from one of your men. He shot me,” I gesture to my shoulder, chain pulling tight. “I thought he was going to kill me so I jumped, I didn't expect him to follow.”
“And when he did?”
I look down at my lap. My fingers find the skin around the nailbed. I push my cuticles back. Forcing my hands to stop, I look up at him.
“Thought I was wrong.”
The captain doesn't respond.
“I thought he was too determined. Not many men I know would jump from a sixty foot cliff after someone,” I look to the window, light fading, the sun must be setting. “If he's yours you trained him well.”
“Some things can't be taught,” he says.
I scoff. “Anything can be taught,” hell most of what I know was drilled into me by-
Someone.
I think.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I meant what I said.”
“I’m asking you to explain.”
“It was nothing.”
“Didnt sound like nothing,” he stops. “Who trained you?”
“The cartel?”
“Is that right?”
I close my eyes and try to think.
“Rogue. What the hell was that?” Diego yells.
“Sir-”
“No. I didn't waste time and resources on get- on training you just for you to let someone slip through the cracks.”
“Sir. I didn't know he was there.”
“You should've. Get on the table.”
“Diego wait. You're right I should've known better, I’m sorry.” I plead.
“Get on the table.”
Stay focused.
“Yeah that's right,” I sigh.
“Who specifically?” he presses.
“Diego.”
He looks at me like a puzzle.
“Salgado?”
I take a breath before answering. “Yes.”
His eyebrows furrow. “How long did Diego train you?”
“Three maybe four years”
“And before Diego?” he asks.
I stay silent.
The captain doesn't push for an answer this time.
He doesn't need to.
The look in his eyes tells me I already have.
Simon
Price’s office door is open when I arrive, I knock anyway.
“Ghost, sit.”
I take the seat across from him.
“Where should I start?” I question.
“Just start when you arrived.”
“I was setting up my rifle, the scope was dusty so I was cleaning it off. That's when Soap started his check in over the comms. He said there’d been a signal detected a click southeast of me. I ducked low to scope out the area, and the target was there. When she spotted me, I ran for her. She ran toward the cliffside, I shot her to slow her down. When I approached her she jumped off the canyon wall. I followed after her immediately. Her arm slowed her down exponentially. She was struggling to stay above the water. Just as she was catching her breath the current pulled her over a waterfall. I followed after her, detained her, brought her back to base.” I recite the operation with certainty.
“You jumped after her?”
“Aye.” I confirm.
“Without knowing what was below?”
“Correct.”
Price leans back. “Why?”
“She looked over the edge before she jumped. The fear in her eyes wasnt the fear of accepting a brutal death. It was something else.”
I pause.
“Scared hope.”
Price watches me.
“So you knew she was trying not to die?”
I nod.
“But you still considered her a threat?”
“She was, she is.”
“Read the files,” he pushes two yellow folders towards me.
I pick them up, opening the heavier one first. My eyes stop on the name at the top of the page. Ria. Ria “Rogue” Wolfe.
My grip tightens on the folder.
I keep reading.
When finished, I place the closed folders on the desk.
“What can you tell me about her?”
I pause. He has the files.
“Ria Wolfe. SAS. The operation went wrong, she went MIA.”
Price says nothing.
“Before that she was highly trained. Paratrooper, sniper, pararescue, more.” I tap the second folder. “Rogue is different. Her memory was wiped without certainty of how far. She was used by the cartel as an assassin, a weapon.”
“That’s what they made her,” Price rests his palm on his knee.
“No.” I tap the armrest of my chair. “They found her. She was already one of the best soldiers the SAS had. The cartel didn’t create a weapon, they stole it.”
“So you agree; she’s an asset.” Price insists.
I look at him. “Price, what’s this really about?”
He leans forward, resting his forearms on the desk. “Laswell wants her on our team.”
I pause.
Laswell wants her?. She’s just been shot, almost drowned, hypothermic. Years with the cartel. Memory gone. She's unpredictable.
“Look I’m not saying hand her a rifle and take off the cuffs. It’ll take time, I’d rather not let her abilities go to waste.”
“That is what you’re saying. Maybe not today, but tomorrow or next week. Nobody knows anything about her. How she fights, if she's a team player. Last thing we need is a buddy fucker.”
“You’ll support my decision to rehabilitate her?” He asks.
I don't answer, Price waits. “Shes unstable.”
“I know. And I trust my Lieutenant enough to keep her under wraps.”
I clench my jaw, thinking. I nod
“Great. Day after next she’s with you,” he pauses. “Train, observe. Find out what she knows.”
A/N: If you cant tell I dont have swag borders yet, but I will make one someday. It is kinda hard to write Simons perspective, bc hes not an OC he already has a way of thinking so I feel like I cant be as free. but also maybe thats good bc then everyone would be the same probably.
🎃#doubleposting because these pictures deserved their own post 👻 god knows how much i love halloween and i wanna thank @karengueg for taking these pictures of me, cause i liked them and that's really weird, and i look like an actual superhero and also like i'm running for president somehow lmao???? but yes, i love halloween b-ye #julforpresident #elections2020 #wonderwoman #icouldbeatyourass #dontunderstimateme #halloweenarequipa #spooky #boomerang #halloween (at Arequipa Region) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqPyWghttL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gyq8gnavkr38
#Doubleposting because the queen herself @taherehmafi has a new book out today! Happy ##bookbirthday to you darling and may all your dreams come true! Guys, give this one a try, the story line is amazing! 😭😩❤️ • • #bookstagram #booklife #books #youngadult #youngadultbooks #bookworm #bookreview #teenbookclub #teenbooks #book #ya #yabooks #bookblog #booktalk #yaauthors (at Barnes & Noble) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpAt0lMF7wS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ibzl90nv8p55
