Who: John ‘Reaper’ Grimm & Sara Lance What: A chance encounter When: Sunday January 12th, Early Morning (Backdated) Where: The woods on the outskirts of town Rating: Low Status: Closed and Completed
Retirement was all well to do, yet John Grimm had no desire to forsake keeping his skills honed by any means. The town of Madison Valley did seem quite surreal and downright peaceful, but more than a few folks had pointed out that there could be strange happenings from time to time. The sort of events that could possibly endanger the lives of the civilian population. While the Space Marine had decided to give being retired an honest go; even seeking out a job where he could aid people, and starting to build meaningful relationships with a few people as well, Reaper knew that he’d have to continue practicing his marksmanship just as he had back home at the military base.
To avoid any problems with the local law though Grimm had sought out the appropriate permit to carry his service weapon. Still while the shooting range was a good option, today the Marine figured he’d head out to shoot in peace in the woods beyond the town. Dressed in his combat gear, armed with his rifle and sidearm too, John strolled out before first light...carrying a large bag filled with watermelons, bottles and cans. It took ten minutes or so at a brisk jog to get well away from the civilian population, but at last the man dumped the black duffle bag to the floor and paused to stretch. Dawn was still an hour or so away yet those eyes of his saw perfectly fine in the dim light.
With a half smile tugging at the corner of his lip the man drew his assault rifle from his back; loading a fresh clip, and activating the genetic lock on the trigger. After double checking the weapon the Marine nodded to himself before turning his gaze to the human sized bag on the forest floor, unaware that someone else was nearby. Without saying a word the Marine raised the weapon, aiming it at the bag as he checked his sights, and with a pull of the trigger a single shot rang out across the woods as he put one bullet into the round almost head like shape within the bag.
--
Running a club meant that Sara was often out and about in the wee hours of the morning. Given her training, she had no fear of being harmed, knowing she was more than capable of protecting herself if someone did attack her. Most nights, she went home, maybe cracked open a beer or two to relax, and was asleep before dawn. There were times when she was too amped for that and ended up wandering the streets in the dark, a leftover vestige from her days as a vigilante.
This morning was one of those days. As she moved silently through the town, she caught sight of another figure moving through town and unconsciously started to follow, curious to see who this was and what they were doing. She knew there was no small number of other vigilante and hero types in town, so it was entirely possible someone else was out doing the exact same thing she was. However, there was also a possibility that someone was out with nefarious intent and, if so, Sara wasn’t going to permit it to happen.
She didn’t recognize this man and was unsure if he was a fellow refugee or if he was a townie that she’d never encountered. Either way, she kept following as he made his way out of town. The bundle he was carrying could be a body and Sara thought perhaps he was disposing of it. She’d not heard of anything like that happening during her time under the dome, but it was entirely possible.
Trying to stay out of sight, she watched as the man pulled out a weapon, wincing when the shot rang out. If he was carrying a body, then he wasn’t attempting to covertly dispose of it. Nor did she think he was executing someone.
“You know there’s a shooting range in town,” she said, emerging from the shadows and taking care to stay out of the line of his gun.
*** The second he heard a voice call out the Space Marine’s body tensed and he spun around, weapon raised and pointed at the unknown person. Yet the moment he spotted her and noticed she wasn’t armed John quickly lowered the barrel of the gun. “Apologies, Ma’am. Didn’t realize you were there.” The remark about the shooting range was simply met with a shrug; Grimm clicked on the safety and strapped his assault rifle to his back again before kneeling down to unzip the large bag while he spoke up again. “Indeed. The range is a decent place to work on one’s marksmanship but the woods out here is far more ideal for running drills.”
Honestly Reaper was all for using the range when it came to simply shooting and keeping that set of skills sharp. Yet out here the man could set up his own little obstacle course, and run it like he used to back at the UAC military base. When the duffle bag was unzipped at last John reached into it, starting to pull out the watermelons, setting them to the side, and pausing to eye the one that he had put a round into...smiling to himself when he spotted the pieces of the half exploded melon. “If you don’t mind me asking, Ma’am, what brings you out this way so early in the morning? I had thought this area was not well traveled.”
Even as the Marine worked to carefully empty the contents of the black bag he never let her get out of his sightline. When the work was done John slowly moved to the nearest tree; reaching up he grabbed a large branch and ripped it off with inhuman strength. Without saying a word the Marine pulled his combat knife from its sheath on his tactical belt; starting to sharpen the ends of the branch to fashion himself a sizable stake he could to mount the watermelons on as a target.
--
Sara leaned against a tree, watching with interest as he unloaded his bag, making herself look as unthreatening as possible. People tended to underestimate her since she was a gorgeous blonde and she didn’t hesitate to play into that when it suited her. She was always armed, had a knife tucked in her boot and her tactical batons strapped to her back, but she didn’t see any need to pull either out.
The question now was should she admit she’d followed him and reveal her stealth abilities? She decided against it for the moment. “Oh, I was just out for a walk. Couldn’t sleep.” It was a flimsy excuse and she didn’t care if he believed it or not.
“Haven’t seen you around before. You new in town?” she asked.
*** That eyebrow of John’ arched a tad in disbelief when she spoke up at last, since the Marine really wasn’t buying her reason for being out here. After all going for a walk was certainly plausible, but following an armed man into the forest before the sun had even started to rise seemed highly unlikely. Still Grimm held his tongue on the matter and merely offered a slight shrug before turning his focus back to the task at hand. Driving the sharpened stick deep into the ground, and when it was secure he put the knife away and moved back to the watermelons.
When she raised the question about him being new in town, Grimm offered a slight nod of his head and chimed in at last. “Yes, Ma’am. Arrived here a week ago or so. The name is John Grimm, but folks call me Reaper. And you would be?”
--
Given some of the people she associated with at home, Sara supposed she shouldn’t judge the nickname. She still did though. It was an unusual one and she had to wonder if he was another professional assassin.
“Sara Lance,” she said, leaving off any of her former code names. None of them were really relevant in Madison Valley. “I own the nightclub Verdant here in town.”
*** The codename hadn’t been chosen by John, but rather assigned to him by his squad mate. Mostly as a joke based on his last name, yet also because they the man had gained a rep for being cold and efficient when it came to taking out enemies in the field. Plus Sarge used to teased Grimm about being as funny as death since he rarely ever spoke or even cracked a smile. After nearly a decade the name was just now part of who he was, and even after arriving here and trying his hand at retirement the Space Marine still couldn’t stop himself from using that nickname when introducing himself to others.
When the blonde offered up her own name at last, and the tidbit about her owning a nightclub, John nodded his head a little. It made sense that a nightclub owner might be out late, and that she’d want to go for a stroll to relax a bit before crashing. Sure the fact that she had followed him out into the woods wasn’t lost on Grimm by any means, yet he kept that bit to himself. “Sounds like an interesting line of work. And I imagine there is no shortage of folks in need of a drink around here too.”
--
“Definitely not,” she agreed. “We do a good business.” It was a far cry from the kind of work she’d done before coming to Madison Valley, though Sara did appreciate that there was a far less chance of grievous bodily harm. “You’ll have to stop by sometime and let me buy you a drink.”
She was intrigued by him and hoped that he’d take her up on the offer. “Where you from?” she asked.
*** Grimm wasn’t opposed to a decent drink from time to time; though the man tended to favor a six pack of beer while fishing, over a fancy drink at a crowded club. “I usually go for a quiet night in with a book, or cleaning my gear, over heading to a nightclub. Still when in Rome...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to at least venture out and check the club of yours out.” Her invite had been kind, and it felt rude to decline it. Yet even when he spoke there was no sign that he had any interest in Sara beyond being civil.
She was an attractive woman to be sure, yet the Marine wasn’t one to play the field. Nor was he one to betray a bond. And while the bond between himself and the Doc was just starting out, that burgeoning relationship meant a great deal to the usually stoic man.
The question of where he was from drew John from his thoughts; and as he finally moved to the bag again, to grab a few watermelons to spike onto the makeshift pole, Reaper cast his gaze back to where she stood and spoke up anew. “Originally, I’m from the Mars Base, though the last decade or so has been spent on Earth for the most part. Living at the UAC military barracks where I served.”
--
That was certainly interesting and Sara had a lot of questions. This didn’t really seem like the right time or place to ask them though and now that she’d determined he wasn’t dumping a body or anything else nefarious, she should probably let him get to his target practice and get herself home. “Sounds like you have some good stories,” she said. “Maybe you can share some when you let me buy you that drink.”
She straightened, her intention to leave obvious. “Enjoy your target practice,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
*** With a soft but earnest smile Grimm chuckled a little when she brought up good stories, and the Marine offered a little nod. Most of his tales were violent in nature, but he had come across some pretty interesting things too while being deployed all over. True he tended to prefer keeping at arm’s length from people, but since the man was stuck in town and doing his best to actually retire…well making a few new friends seemed like the right thing to do. “Fair enough, Ma’am. I’ll swing by sometime and swap a story or two since you are offering to buy me a beer. Seems only fitting.”
When she turned around and said goodbye Reaper offered a slight wave before calling out one last time. “See you around.” Alone at last the soldier turned his focus back to the task at hand; and threw himself into his morning routine.