Voicemail

[goddamngrenades]

You have reached the voice mail system of FOXTROT 12.

When you are finished recording, just hang up or press pound for more options.

To request a locksmith, press one.

To hear these options in Spanish, press dos.

To send a verbal confirmation of a written command, press three.

To send a written confirmation of a verbal command, press four.

For delivery options, press five.

To page this person, press six.

To locate your nearest operator, press seven.

To leave a call back number, press eight.

To repeat this message, press nine.

Press zero for other options.

To mark this message as urgent, press eleven.

Thank you for calling, have a nice day.

BEEP


Comments

Day 166; Mid-Morning - Text; -> Action

[pastdoesntdefine]

ok

[and that, as they say, is that. at least for the 35 minutes it takes her to navigate out of the third district, wrap up the delivery she had to make, then make her way there. On foot for part of the way, for what little good being paranoid does her here and now.

There's four sharp taps of her knuckles on the door, before she turns her back to it, hands jammed into her pockets and gaze set forwards. ]

Action

[goddamngrenades]

[ Four raps and it pops open- well slides in and over to let her in with an all but silent hiss. ]

Clair? Come on in.

[ He's got a pot of chocolate on the stove inset into one wall, the smell coiling over the usual bite of metal and leather. ]

Action

[pastdoesntdefine]

[ She's already inside by the time the door's halfway open, a hand palming the controls to indicate it should seal itself again as quickly as possible. She doesn't move from the door right away, though, once she's inside. Takes a minute to slow her breathing, to rein things in.

The smell of chocolate is distinct against the rest of the bunker's scents, and she looks up, though eyes remaining dark. ]

Hey.

Re: Action

[goddamngrenades]

[ Most of the obstacle course is collapsed or set along the wall, the space large and open enough that it's a clear shot from the door to the sofa and coffee table in the far corner where York's waiting. He waves her over. ]

You want anything to eat?

Action

[pastdoesntdefine]

No.

[she doesn't move from the door right away. Just. Stands there. Hands curling into and unfurling from fists. Takes in the room, distantly and clinically, but not moving.]

Re: Action

[goddamngrenades]

...Clair?

[ He sets down the mugs and pushes away from the sofa, walking across the expanse to meet her at the door. This isn't like her. This stillness, this quiet. Not without a job or a target. ]

Clair, talk to me.

[pastdoesntdefine]

[ Talk? What is there to talk about? She glances up at his approach, the slant of her brow narrowing her eyes in anger. She has every reason to be, of course. They all have - now, even more so than usual.

It isn't right. ]

..I think I know now, how you felt then.

[goddamngrenades]

...when you showed up on the network?

[ He reaches out as slow as anything, a litle tentative. An angry Carolina is a dangerous carolina. ]

[pastdoesntdefine]

[ All Carolinas are dangerous Carolinas - or so she'd once overheard someone say in the locker rooms long ago. Not entirely inaccurate, and York's caution isn't without due reason.

She does not flinch at the light contact with her arm, lets his hand settle on her shoulder. But the lines of tension do not fade around her mouth and eyes, remain present in the stiffness of her shoulders. She doesn't meet his gaze, staring instead at some distant point. ]

..Yeah.

Except in this case, we know there's only going to be one outcome.

[ Fist forms, tightens. ]

[goddamngrenades]

...I can make sure it's quick.

[ More than just Connie this time but- he can't leave it like this. Can't force anyone else to do it either. He'll talk to her, explain what's happeneing, what's happened and...make an offer. ]

If you want me to.

[pastdoesntdefine]

...I won't ask you to do that.

[ Not that the offer isn't appreciated. It's just.. There's something in the way she sighs, the way her face falls. ]

I didn't even tell her who I was. But she knows.. Knows we're both here. [husband and daughter, what could she even expect to find?] I don't know what I should even say to her.

[goddamngrenades]

You don't have to.

[ He's already offered it. ]

That you grew up well. That you're a good soldier- that you're a good CO. That you missed her. That you're sorry she's stuck here. That you're sorry for what your father twisted her memory into.

[pastdoesntdefine]

[ The offer will stand; ultimately, she knows it's not hers to take - or make. ]

Well, at least two of those things are true. [she'd tried, where so many of the other things are concerned.] ..And I don't know that she needs to know, about what he did. Being here, being alive, is going to be hard enough.

[it hadn't been her mother's fault that her father had never really gotten over her]

[goddamngrenades]

I think maybe she could set him straight in the long run. Or at least ease some of his pain. I dunno.

[pastdoesntdefine]

I don't see why that should be her job to. [her expresion is worried, distant a moment] I know how things end, the sort of choices he could make. They're not healthy for anyone..

[then she's quiet, for a long, long moment, before she looks up at him, trying to hide how distraught she is. Carolina, a full grown woman, a highly skilled operative and survivor of encounters that have left others for dead, is well aware of how childish her next words sound - in her ears, and no doubt in his.]

...What if she doesn't like me, Taylor?

[goddamngrenades]

...Clair.

[ He smiles, pulling her in close, looping his arms around her shoulders to give her a squeeze. That's- he can't imagine what it's like to worry about that. Not at all. But it's a very real concern and he won't belittle it in the slightest. ]

Clair she is going to love you. She's your mother. She'll love you and be so proud of you for what you've survived.

[pastdoesntdefine]

But what if she doesn't?

[Asked, even as he pulls her close, and she rests against him, her uncertainty plain. But she wants to believe it, wants to hope for the best.]

..I'm sorry. Of all the things to be worried about right now, at a time like this.

[goddamngrenades]

We all worry that our parents will be proud of the people we become. I know she'll be proud of you.

[ He turns his head to tuck her close, hand rubbing between her shoulderblades. ]

It's the only time you'll ever get to ask.

[pastdoesntdefine]

That would be nice.

[ At least then one of her parents might be. She squeezes her arms around him in thanks, before pulling back - not by much, just enough so that she can look up at him. ]

Have you encountered anyone else yet?

[goddamngrenades]

South, Sigma, Omega, Florida, oddly enough, and Me.

[ He drops an arm around her waist and gives a little tug, nodding to the table at the far end of the room. ]

[pastdoesntdefine]

[she appreciates that he doesn't press on it; he doesn't need to say more, and for the moment, she's not going to think about her mother. Focus instead on the others here as he leads her to the table and couch. She frowns at Sigma; no shock, meaning she's met him too, but Omega gets a blink. As does--]

Flowers? I didn't see him.

Wait, South? [brows knit in confusion] but, she can't be a clone. She's an Immune. Isn't she?

[goddamngrenades]

Apparently that's not enough to keep them from doing this to us.

[pastdoesntdefine]

...shit.

[ Because it wasn't like she needed more reasons to hate Bifrons.]

[goddamngrenades]

...yeah. If I ever go missing and show up here as a clone- just put me out of my misery.

[pastdoesntdefine]

Don't. [sharply, as her hand moves, catching his arm. Pulling him to stop as she stares up at him. glares up at him] Don't say that. Don't think like that.

We're going to figure out how they're doing this, and find a way to stop it. [now? no. they simply don't know enough, don't have the resources - even now, months later. But Carolina is perfectly willing and able to prepare for the long term]