Archive Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - Love [Complete]

[z-May Allman]

When It Was All OK…

Quote:

“This is my beloved and this is my friend.”

--Song of Solomon

“And then she came so hard that she screamed at the top of her lungs,” Travis laughed, waving the glass of vodka around with enthusiasm. Ronnie watched patiently, trying to figure out if the alcohol was going to hit the floor or not. But her buddy was talented – in so many ways, to hear him boast – and the glass didn’t lose a drop. “So I clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late, right? Her husband had already heard, and he came barging in the room.”

Ronnie wondered when he’d be done telling her about this conquest. She hated sitting through these, but cooperation with Travis got better work out of him. Besides, he liked telling his tales, so she humored him. It was no hardship to listen to him talk, her eyes allowed to focus on his face. She didn't mind at all, which was disconcerting, in a way. She knew what it meant. She stifled a yawn and glanced at her watch.

“I’m boring you,” he said, stopping and looking at her. “Sorry… it was just so wild, and really hot, right until there were two cocks in the room.” He leaned forward, smirking. “You know, I could demonstrate for you. Personally. It’d be less boring.”

“We do have a mission to discuss,” she reminded him, but she was smiling as she said it.

“We do, don’t we?” he sighed, the light from the overhead lamp reflecting off his golden hair. “Sure you wouldn’t like me to demonstrate my technique for a while?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Why wait five more minutes?” she asked, taking another draw on her beer before busting out an unrepentant grin. She hated this too, knowing that he was offering her sex without returning any of the warm feelings that she had for him.

“Five minutes is how long you’ll last, my plump Plum.”

“You callin’ me fat?” Ronnie asked, some of her amusement fading.

“No, that was a remark on your tits,” Travis said, breaking out in gut-busting laughter as she started to turn bright red and sputter incoherently. “Right, right,” he finally said. “Enough joking around. What do we have?”

“Simple breaking and entering on a lab here in Berlin,” Ronnie said, pulling over the plans, relieved that they were getting down to business. “Should be a breeze for us.”

Travis grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.” Together, they bent over the maps and notes, memorizing the building they’d be raiding tomorrow.

When It Fell Apart…

Quote:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

--Alfred Tennyson

"I'm a spy, not a babysitter, Travis!"

"I don't need you to wipe my ass, Purple Bits, I fucking need your help up here!"

The facility shook again, as if they were under attack. Ronnie slipped on the floor and nearly went to one knee. Her hands shook as she struggled to get the tube open, but she wasn't sure what she was doing; all she knew is that she couldn't leave these people - HER PEOPLE - here.

"Ronnie!" Travis screamed, and the fact that he used her name made her abandon her struggles, right as the tube opened. She turned and ran for him, knowing that he was really in trouble-

The explosion rocked the building and was followed by a deafening roar. Ronnie hit the floor, coughing and choking on dust. The lights were gone, and the sound of rocks bouncing filled the silence after the roar. Dust? Light...

She dug out her flashlight and shone it forward-

The was a new rock wall not three inches from her outstretched hand. For one greedy second, she was glad that she was safe, before she realized that Travis wasn't. "Travis!?" she croaked, listening. She coughed despite herself, then shouted, "Travis!"

Silence.

"Travis!" Ronnie cried again, coughing as more dust entered her lungs. She shoved her hair out of her face and looked at the piled rock. Without hesitation, she started to dig.

The second collapse nearly caught her, and it was only luck that she fall the right way. Coughing harder, fighting back helpless desperation, she looked back at the wall. Travis...

Get up! Celeste screamed at her. Don't lie here and die!

I have to get Travis-

Travis is dead! Ronnie shook her head, even as she knew that Celeste was right. Her partner - no, her friend, couldn't have survived that.

"Save whom we can." Baara's voice was firm; too firm, and Ronnie was pulled under as the green-eyed woman surged forth.

While Baara Saved Them…

Quote:

I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time.

--Hobbes

In the dark recesses of May’s mind, Ronnie existed, formless and shapeless. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t there or active. There were no physical ways to relieve her grief, but everyone in her head felt the pain of the loss of her friend. In May’s head, there were three things to do: be bored, watch what the person in control was doing and offer advice, or remember.

Today, Ronnie remembered…

Ronnie switched her weight to another foot, rotating and cracking her neck. The briefing room was small and dark, and she had the sudden sense that she was in a Nazi bucker on a movie set. When the door snapped open, she fought the urge to shout, “Hiel, Hitler!” and snap off a Nazi salute. Probably not a good idea to do in the heart of Berlin, even as a joke.

Her handler, Dresdner, entered the room with two men she didn’t know. She eyed them, wondering which one was her new partner. One was shorter than her, conservatively dressed and looked very professional. The other, a blonde, was smirking and arrogant, dressed way too nicely for this kind of work. Ronnie frowned at him as he checked out her rack, hips and legs before coming to her face. “Agent Collins,” Dresdner said in German, “this is Travis Kincaid, your new partner.”

The remembering Ronnie watched carefully, hungrily, holding tight to even this memory. There were better ones, but after seeing his end, she wanted to be back at the beginning, with three more years ahead of them, as partners and friends.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Veronica Collins, its a pleasure." Travis offer her his hand, the fingers long and slim but strong, his grip powerful in spite of his lanky frame. He smiled, a dazzling display of white teeth and an upturned lip that showed mirth and a hint of lust. Travis made a gesture and the chairs slid back from the table without him touching any of them. He moved to one end of the table and sat down, tossing his feet up onto the table, crossed at the ankle. "I hope you're more competent than the last partner I had. I had to teach her everything." Dresdner coughed and Travis laughed, a rich sound that begged others to join him.

[z-May Allman]

Mmm, asshole with a side of jerk, Ronnie grumbled to herself.

He'll learn we're more competent than he can imagine, May said, her soft voice firm and sure. She had faith in herselves, and it showed in her voice.

Like it matters what he thinks, Celeste pointed out. We're his partner now - he just has to work with us, not like us.

True, Ronnie said and answered him. "I'm not new to this game, Mr. Kincaid. I doubt we'll have any problems, unless it's with you keeping up with me." Her voice was calm as she said it, not arrogant but determined.

The other two men sighed to themselves. Agents could be terrible about being hyper-competitive. "Agent Kincaid, Agent Collins, this is Androf Daan, an analytical specialist. He will be briefing you on the particulars of your first mission together. Mr. Daan?"

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis raised an eyebrow, "I'll take that as a challenge and an invitation." His expression barely changed and yet it now conveyed something new, interest.

"Agents, if you would turn your attention to your briefing portfolios." Daan tossed out a pair of manila folders, one to each of the two mutants, "I would like to get started. Now the target is a man named Scheindorf. We suspect that he is the bankroll behind a criminal group known as C-12. We have reason to believe that Scheindorf and his cohorts are planning a terrorist attack. The well known anti mutant group, Pure Gene, is planning a rally in Geneva next month, we believe they intend to bomb the rally."

"Lemme stop you right there. I feel it prudent to remind you that we two are mutants. Sounds to me like Scheindorf is doing us a favor." Travis' tone was such that it was unclear if he was joking or not.

[z-May Allman]

Oh, great. He's a dumb jerk. "Yeah, that's all well and good until he goes all Magneto on us," Ronnie pointed out. "I'm all down on Pure Gene, too. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to bomb a rally they'll be at, especially if there's going to be people there protesting against Pure Gene. It happens."

She shrugged. "If C-12 were going to bomb Pure Gene's headquarters, I'd have a bigger issue with stopping them. But there's going to be innocents at the rally, people who show up to watch or cops directing it.

"Unless you were just joking, Agent Kincaid," Ronnie added. In which case, you're a very special kind of jerk.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Are you always this serious? Honestly, it was a joke ... sheesh," he rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "prune". He gestured to Daan, "What's the mission then? Take down this guy and his crew?"

Daan shook his head, "You're to provide surveillance only. Watch him, note the people he associates with and the places he goes. If the threat seems credible we will turn over the data to the local police agencies."

Travis' feet hit the floor with a thus, his expression was incredulous, "You're joking, you just want us to sit around and ... and ... watch him? I can't imagine a bigger waste of my abilities."

[z-May Allman]

I can, Ronnie muttered mentally, coming up with several ideas that had herselves chuckling along with her. Of course, she didn't really know what those abilities were, but she was pretty sure that using him as a door stop would be a waste of his powers, even if the idea was funny.

"Regular agents could watch them, and then we could be brought in later to take them out," Ronnie pointed out reasonably. "I mean, terrorism can't be that slow right now, that you have to send us on a milk run. I'm sure someone somewhere is plotting to frame the president of Egypt for seeing someone's wife naked or going to set off a biological agent on a bus full of nuns."

Dresdner just looked at her. He rarely appreciated her sense of humor, which honestly only made her want to rattle his cage more. "Come on... there's got to be something better."

[Travis Kincaid]

"So you do understand humor, however dark." Travis looked at the two analysts, "Seriously, what is the intent here?"

"The intent Mr. Kincaid, is to give you two a chance to work together in a situation where your lives will not be in danger. Given that you are both coming off of prior partnerships command feels it is best to ensure that your personalities will not clash before putting you into a combat situation."

[z-May Allman]

Travis' remark took away a bit more patience, and then Daan stole the last. "And what if our fuckin' personalties do clash?" Ronnie growled, looking darkly at every other living thing in the room.

"Then we'll assess that upon the completion of your mission," Dresdner replied, "and take it from there."

"Would we be given new partners?" Ronnie asked, her voice a bit hopeful.

"That is only one possibility among many," Daan said firmly. "Any further questions, or may I get on with the briefing?"

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis was on his feet, "What is this all about!?!"

Dresner scowled, "Its about the fact that your attitude has never been one that meshed terribly well with others Travis."

"Hey! I mesh very well with others ..."

"Dammit this isn't a joke, you either do what we tell you or we cut you loose. That goes for both of you. The company understands that you have recently lost partners but the fact is that you both possess a certain personality type that ... well it doesn't make placement very easy."

"Hey I'm easy," Travis smirked, trying to conceal the mirth in his voice.

"Kincaid ... shut up." Dresdner looked at Ronnie, "You going to argue this as well?"

[z-May Allman]

"What the fuck is wrong with my personality?" Ronnie asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Dresdner.

"Ronnie, you really don't need to be told that," he chided her. "It's come up in every review. You're good, very good, but you are brash and abrasive. The only person you've gotten along with even a little was another mutant."

"Yeah, that's because I didn't have to watch my six and hers," Ronnie snapped.

"Which is why you're now teamed with Travis. He's a mutant, you won't have to babysit him," Dresdner said. "Now, either accept the order or have your resignation on my desk."

[Travis Kincaid]

One long day later ...

The car was cramped. Whomever had decided to issue the pair of them a subcompact was either stupid or cruel. Neither Ronnie or Travis had found a way to be comfortable in the tiny car and the cramped space was made worse but the hot weather. The car was like a minuscule oven. Travis set down the binoculars and slammed his head back into the headrest, "Booooring ... I swear I don't know what I did to deserve this. Unless ... crap, I wonder if the director found out about his daughter..."

[z-May Allman]

It was too hot to smoke even. She was dripping with sweat, and was about two minutes away from stripping off her shirt and risking wearing only a bra in front of the ass. Ronnie had been letting Celeste entertain her by telling jokes about her last mission - there was something about a pompous, overweight dictator unknowingly about to lose his country to a coup that was just a wellspring for jokes.

At Travis' remark, she snapped out of it and made a face. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked. She'd been tolerating his sexist and sexual remarks for way too long now, but this tore it. "Are you really this much of a caricature of a man whore, or are you putting on an act? Because, really, the director's daughter? Come on!"

[Travis Kincaid]

"What? She came on to me, I didn't even know till I had her halfway to enlightenment. Its not like I was going to stop at that point, not that I wanted to, that girl could fuck like the best of 'em. You know its true what the say, a little crazy goes a long way." Travis turned to her and somehow his smile was still as bright and boyish as it had been the day before, he didn't even look all that uncomfortable in the heat. "You know, you could really stand to lighten up some. We're going to be stuck in this damn car for at least two more days."

[z-May Allman]

"'Lighten up'?" Ronnie repeated. "Look, it's not exactly professional to discuss how you banged the director's daughter, even as a reason for being stuck here with me. And honestly, if he were singling you out for punishment, there's worse assignments than becoming my partner. At least with me, once you've managed to prove that you can be professional, you have a chance of doing missions. They could have slammed you into a desk job and buried you in paperwork."

Ronnie looked out the window and sighed. "Can't we just work in blissful silence and get through this?" Silence could be hard, but she cheated - she had someone to talk to.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis' chuckled, "I don't really do professional, I do my job and try to enjoy myself. I didn't intend to imply that you are the punishment, though clearly you take yourself too seriously to be much fun. As for a desk ... You've never read one of my after action reports, I don't think even the director would want me behind a desk." He turned in the cramped driver's seat and looked at her, "Do you really want to just sit here in silence? You really have nothing to talk about? For two more days?"

[z-May Allman]

"I can be fun, and have fun," Ronnie said. "It's just that my idea of fun doesn't involve listen to some guy I just met discussing his conquests. I mean," she continued, twisting around in her own seat so that she could look at him, "you sound like all you do with women is have sex with them or think about having sex with them. You're an attractive guy, you seem smart - you could have your choice of-"

Ronnie stopped and shook her head. "Ok, sorry... out of line. In answer, if the choice is sitting in silence, and listening to nothing but you discuss making your cock cry the milky tears of joy, I'll fuckin' take silence, thanks.

"I mean, what's your background, your specialties? What are you good at, besides boasting about your conquests? What can I expect of you in the field?"

[Travis Kincaid]

"Yes I could have my choice of women, and do ... often. But fine, if you can do no more than talk shop ... I assume you've read my file ... no?" Travis sighs and shakes his head, "I figured that when they didn't offer yours it was because they knew I wouldn't read it anyways. Well do you want to hear it in technical terms or in human being terms?"

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie was picturing how many different ways she could kill this man. It was very relaxing to imagine folding him into thirds and shoving his body into the glove box. "I'm guessing that they didn't give us each other's file then." She sighed. "Guess they wanted us to have something to talk about.

"And so long as the terms aren't sexual, I don't care."

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis frowned, "You catch on quick. Fine. The company rates my sensory acuity and physical agility beyond human capability. My training is broad, covering all the requisite skills. My mutant powers afford me control and creation of kinetic energy." He looked at her for a moment, "That means telekinesis, including some specific applied usage. And you? Anything you can do besides suck the fun out of a tiny car and be purple?"

[z-May Allman]

She scowled at him. "I shift my body to aid kicking ass, mostly," she said. Holding out her hand, below the level of the dashboard, she concentrated, and thick, heavy claws formed on the tips of her fingers. After a moment, her hand returned to normal. "That's pretty much it. I've got one trick but it's pretty versatile."

She looked at him. "Anything else I should know about you? That'd I'd need to know as a partner?"

[Travis Kincaid]

"Hmmm, well I like my coffee sweet and light, much like I like my woman. I'm double jointed. Umm, lets see ... oh, and I'm always up for a tumble." Travis smirked as Ronnie's expression darkened, "Oh I suppose I should point out that I pretty much buck authority out of simple principle and spite, that, no, I do not in fact know when to stop, and that if thrown into a situation I tend to muscle my way out on the fly rather than plan my way out. I'm more spontaneous than I am methodical." He winked, "Anything else?"

[z-May Allman]

"No, and now I'm sorry I asked," Ronnie sighed, resting her head against the head rest. She watched the building, feeling strangely tired. Larry had been a dip shit, but at least he'd never been this flippant. "You are going to be serious on a mission, right? And I don't mean this bullshit - I mean, when I have to depend on you to watch yourself and do your job, you're going to be solid, right?"

She glanced at him, and her pulse jumped at the intense look he was giving her. Just a bodily reaction, she told herself as she looked back to the building.

He is cute. May's opinion wasn't welcome.

So are skunks, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a car with one either.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis never got a chance to reply. The driver's side window imploded and something slammed into the side of Travis' head. "Fuck, what the ... hell... unnngh..." Noxious green-yellow gas billowed out from a soda can shaped object that had tumbled into the leg space. Ronnie had enough time to note the irony of the attack given her last thought. Then blackness overtook her.

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie woke up shivering and in the dark - never a good way to start. She was sprawled on a hard floor; had she been a human, she might have been too stiff to move. As it was, she was a little slower than normal. It was very cold in the dark room, and for a moment, Ronnie wondered if Celeste or May had gone out partying and got their asses dumped in a freezer. Slowly, she adjusted, realizing it wasn't that cold, just cold. "S-s-s-s-shit," she muttered, teeth chattering.

It came back in a rush: the surveillence, the car and Travis. Ronnie closed her eyes and made a small adjustment to her vision. A second later, the back of her retina was reflective, and Ronnie was able to see in less light, at the expense of her color vision.

Travis was flopped in a corner, not too far away. Ronnie scurried to him, reaching for the artery in the neck. Thankfully, he had a pulse and she relaxed a bit. She wasn't alone in her. And he was a telekenetic. Or he would be, when he finally woke up. "You enjoy your nap," Ronnie muttered. "I'll just save our asses."

Still, she pulled him upright and leaned him against her as she considered what to do. The warmer he was when he awoke, the more likely that he'd be able to jump right into their escape. Plus, where their bodies met was warmer and a balm to Ronnie, too.

She scanned the room. A single steel door, heavily barricaded. She might be able to take it out in a single kick, but she wasn't sure about that. The rest of the room was a cinder block build, probably reinforced if they knew what Ronnie was and could do. And if they knew that, they were likely to come back soon to start the questioning. Ronnie didn't know that a session of torture was coming up, but they had to want them for something. Celeste, May... I'm open to suggestions.

Where the door meets the concrete - it might be weaker there, Celeste offered. Rather than going through the door, you might be able to knock the door and its frame out.

It's as good a plan as any, Ronnie agreed, propping Travis against the wall before standing up and heading to the door. Leaning in, she stared closely at the junction between the door and the wall. It looked solid to her, but she was aware that it was probably the weakest point.

Go big, May advised.

"I don't wanna," Ronnie moaned. It would mean stripping. It'd be cold and Travis might wake up. She cast a quick look at him; still asleep. She'd forgotten that her eyes were the only reason she could see. Sighing, she peeled off her clothes and concentrated. The room went dark as she put all of her effort into doubling her size and strengthening her form. Grumbling, knelt down on the ground, then yelped as she twisted around and her ass connected. "Fuuuuuuck," she hissed as the warmth leeched out of her butt.

Eager to get this done, she braced her feet against the door, then curled her knees up. She took a deep breath and visualized her feet knocking the door completely loose. When she was sure she could see herself doing it, she released her kick.

The door exploded away from the cell, reverberating off the other wall. Ronnie was already rolling to her feet, shrinking and adjusting herself. Teeth chattering, she wiggled back into her clothes, aware of the seconds rolling by; she was in such a hurry that she discarded her underwear and bra and went commando. Travis was pulled to his feet and then tucked over her shoulder. "Sorry," she muttered to her partner as he settled against her burly frame. It couldn't be a comfortable position.

Peering into the hallway, she listened; someone somewhere was shouting an alarm in German. "Perfect," she muttered and turned the other way, moving at a fast jog.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis awoke to a sound like thunder. The room was dark save the light spilling in from the hall through the hole in the wall. He felt like crap, he could tell because he didn't even bother to give Ronnie's nakedness more than a cursory glance before the darkness enveloped him again.

His whole body bounced, something was digging into his stomach and it rose and fell causing him to flop about like a fish. Travis opened his eyes and saw Ronnie's ass. He raised his head and saw they were in some kind of warehouse or bunker or something. He vaguely recalled something hitting his head in the car. It hadn't really hurt but he couldn't recall anything after that, even that memory was fuzzy. He considered just asking Ronnie to stop but instead he reached down and laid a hand on her ass, and squeezed. "Oh my, that is nice."

[z-May Allman]

Her first impulse was to grab his ankles and swing him off her shoulder. The probability of fatality stayed her hand and instead she merely dumped him off her shoulder. He thumped to the floor, and she grabbed the collar of his jacket and hauled him back to his feet. "Come on," she growled, "we're in the middle of saving our asses, so play grab-ass later. With someone else."

She looked at him closely. "Feel up to using some mojo? We're about to get jumped, and I need you to help me out here."

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis smiled, Cheshire like, "That's funny ... I thought I was using my mojo." He holds his hand up to his face and flexes the fingers, "Must be off my game." She glared at him and he rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh, "Fine ... sheesh. I could try, but whatever they dosed us is making my pulse feel like ten rounds with Ali." He looked down, "Oohh you ditched the bra, very nice!"

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie wanted to hit him. It was her instinctive reaction to a comment like that, and at this point, he was asking for it. So she hit him, but it second she impacted, she knew it had likely done nothing.

"Like it rough?" he asked with a shit-eating grin. "I can take it, if you can."

Well, he's got balls, Celeste laughed. I like him.

Fine, you deal with him.

Oh, darling, he's easy deal with, the blond Other said. Just do as I say...

Hating doing this, Ronnie leaned forward, pressing lightly against him. "Listen, I really want to get out of here, and I can't focus if you keep annoying me like that," she murmured in his ear, her voice naturally falling into a husky murmur. "So let's make a deal: you focus on getting us out of here, and afterwards, I'll let you find out what else I'm not wearing." She pulled back, her purple eyes, almost on the same level as his, intense. "Deal?"

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis' hand went to his mouth but the twinkle in his eyes spoke of the mock surprise. He looked deep into her eyes after she was done, he held her in his gaze for longer than would be expected, or comfortable. "You're bluffing," he announced, "Besides, I know you didn't bother with your panties either." He held up his hand again, "Didn't feel them." His grin was insufferably self assured, "Anyways, I enjoy the flirting but we should really stop wasting time," his tone was mock serious and he shook his head in feigned disappointment.

[z-May Allman]

"For the record, I don't bluff," Ronnie said, "and Jesus Fucking Christ yes, let's get to work and get the fuck out of here. That's all I fucking want. Are you going to be able to do shit, or do I have to do all the heavy lifting?"

She didn't get her answer, because someone popped around the corner, then backpedaled, poking a gun around the corner. The backwards dance was just enough warning for Ronnie to shift her body. Plates of hardened skin formed over her skin and she stepped between Travis and bullets. The gunman sprayed the hall with a burst of automatic fire.

[Travis Kincaid]

"How very rude, we were about to have a moment." Travis' voice sounded almost bored. He gestured and the bullets, misshapen and warped from impact with Ronnie's armored body, rose into the air. He flicked his fingers out and the bullets tumbled through the air and around the corner. The pair heard a scream and Travis nodded, see no problem, I..." The gunman ducked back out from the corner, his clothing torn and small round bruises forming on his face and arms, and fired a burst at Travis. Bullets slammed into him rocking him off his feet to the floor, "Ooof. OK. Guess maybe I'm not up to peak just yet..."

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie didn't wait for Travis' next coy quip. Instead, she charged, bringing her shoulder low and then up into the man lifting him clean off the ground and into the opposite wall of the T-intersection. She didn't stop her run and her shoulder caught the man again right after he thumped into the wall, cracking ribs and rupturing internal organs. The wall collapsed and Ronnie had to pull herself out of the drywall. "Hate that," she muttered, rubbing dust off her arms.

Glancing back at Travis, she asked, "You ok?"

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis didn't get up after a second he said, "I think I need some mouth to mouth." Ronnie's exasperated growl made him sit up, "No? Ok." He shrugged and got to his feet and walked over to the fallen man. He prodded the guy with his foot and then checked his pulse. "You didn't kill him," he announced as he pulled a black sharpie out of his jacket and lifted the man's mask. "I love doing this," Travis drew a mustache and van Dyke on the injured terrorist and then stood up. "Ok, Violet the Amazon, lead the way..." he gestured grandly down the hall as he put the marker back in his pocket.

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie watched Travis torment the unconscious guard, simply glad that when he was thusly distracted, he wasn't bothering her. You, Mr. Terrorist are simply lucky that you're a he and not a she, or else you might come to pregnant. As Travis stepped back, Ronnie pulled the guy's radio and his gun. She pawed his pockets, but didn't find anything useful, like keys.

"You just want me to get shot first," Ronnie grumbled, taking the lead. Her skin still tingled from where she'd been shot, though it didn't hurt, at all. She did feel almost sluggish, from the sensation that she was heavier. She wasn't really.

At the next corner, she paused and took a 'snap look' - literally glancing around the corner for a second. She glanced back at Travis and held up three fingers, then signaled that he should get the one on the right. When he was ready, she jumped out into the hallway, strafing the two guys on the left. She ignored Travis; he'd either do his job or not.

Her aim wasn't perfect, but her secondary objective of being the main target was achieved. The bullets from the automatic pistols slammed into her with little effect, but the higher-caliber rifle cut her legs out from underneath her and tore open her chest. Wasn't expecting that, she gasped as she splashed blood on the floor. Hurts. Suddenly, she was much more concerned about breathing through perforated lungs than shooting the baddies.

She hoped to God Travis was competent.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis stepped out across the hall and leaned casually against the wall. He extended a hand toward the guy on the left and made and upward curl with his hand, before forming a fist. The man suddenly rose a foot off the floor and then gasped as his arms and legs were slammed together and the breathe was slowly squeezed from his body. Then the loud crack of a rifle echoed through the hall and Ronnie went down as crimson sprayed from her body. Travis' bored expression vanished and he drove his right hand, palm facing outward straight at the other two terrorists. A blast of kinetic energy pulsed outward and hit the two men like a wall tossing them backward like rag dolls. His left swung to the side and the third man, already on the verge of blackout impacted the wall and then fell to the floor, released from Travis' kinetic control. He extended his will once more and picked up the dazed pair and slammed them repeatedly into the floor and ceiling until he was sure they too were unconscious.

Wasting no time he turned and knelt next to Ronnie, "Dammit I thought you could take that. You should have said something!" The wounds looked bad, a triplicate of bullet holes in her chest, oozing red into her shirt. Travis looked intently at them and Ronnie felt a strange sensation of pressure on the wounds, and in the wounds. "You're going to be fine. I won't let you die. Medic! Dammit you sons of bitches, get a medic in here now!"

[z-May Allman]

"You don't ask the enemy for a medic, retard," Ronnie growled. She grabbed his shoulder in a grip of iron and snapped, "Get yer ass movin'. I'll be mobile in a second. And I can take it, just not all at once."

Her knee repaired itself and her grip on his shoulder eased. Next, the holes in her chest started to heal. "Move!" she snapped, pushing at him to get him in motion. The fact that she couldn't pick him up and just go was a sign of how much she'd been hurt.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Lie the fuck still. Wait, holy shit, you failed to mention you could heal like a damn cartoon ... " Footsteps pounding down the hall cut him off, a pair of white outfitted men with medical kits rounded the corner and skidded to a stop by Ronnie as a PA crackled to life.

"Kin-CAID!! How the hell did you know this was a simulation??!!"

Travis' winced, "Looks like I ruined somebody's fun ... oops!" Travis put his pinky finger to the corner of his mouth in a mocking look of embarrassment. He moved away as the medics check Ronnie over but her wounds were already well on their way to being healed. "You got some moxie babe, I'll give you that much."

"Agent Kincaid report to the director's office A.S.A.P." Another voice announced over the PA as the first "terrorist" showed up, rubbing vainly at the Sharpie facial hair.

His expression darkened as he saw Travis. "Come with me," he said, his tone brokering no reply from Travis.

[z-May Allman]

"Travis, wait..." Ronnie called, and, like a scene in a movie, everyone stopped. She pulled herself to her feet; a medic moved to her side, but Ronnie limped forward on her own. "You... knew this was a simulation? And you didn't tell me!? Some fucking partner you are!" She hit him again, with much the same result as before. "Fucker! I hope the director finds out about you 'enlightening' his daughter!"

Scowling, she limped away. Or started to; she wasn't make the best time, and her grand exit was more like a gyrating wobble. But her head was still high as she weaved on half-shattered knees.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis' head rocked back as she slugged him. The energy delivered was largely absorbed and redirected into the floor and air but he still received a strong enough blow to raise color on his jaw. "I wasn't supposed to know, and neither were you. The whole point of this was for them," he waved a hand around at the unseen agents of the company, "to see if we could work together. Maybe I fucked up, god knows it wouldn't be the first time." He shrugged as she walked away, "I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't play along if I did."