Gdoc: Mia and Skrull Connor. WHO: Connor!Skrull and Mia Dearden WHERE: Brownstone. When: February 20 after this. What: Confrontation. The Skrulls cover has been blown. Rating: Definitely R, for taunting of triggery subject matters and glorious violence.
Mia hadn’t quite been herself that past couple of days. The loss of Jaime was weighing heavily on her, though for some reason she refused to say anything other than “I’m fine.” on the matter. She couldn’t dwell on feelings right now. She couldn’t admit that she was freaked out. She had a problem to work through. She’d freak out later.
She dropped her stuff by the back door and rolled her shoulders. She’d gone and checked in on the Reyes. She’d promised Jaime after all.
She let the door shut softly and she grabbed a water out of the fridge. She opened the swinging kitchen door, but caught sight of Connor. His back was to her and he seemed to be mumbling into a communicator. Probably SHIELD stuff. And really she loved Connor, but she didn’t want to run into him right now.
If he tried to be touchy feely right now she’d probably she’d just dump her water on him.
It wasn’t until the door fell shut that she heard what he was saying. “Cover was blown, your highness. Next assignment?”
She instantly froze.
No.
No way, but she’d unmistakably heard it with her own ears. It took her a second to collect her thoughts. Luckily she lived in a house full of weapons. She slipped her shoes off wanting to move as silently as possible. She pulled herself up on the counter and reached over the top of the cabinets. She pulled down a green quiver and bow stashed up there.
It was Oliver’s, but it’d do. She slipped it on her back, and carefully pushed open the door and drew an arrow.
She had to find the real Connor though. They weren’t keeping Connor.
She took a few steps into the living room and the door finally swooshed shut behind her as she aimed her arrow. There had to be 12 feet between them max. She used her Titans comm for backup. She didn't realize that the Skrulls communication device would block it.
“Where the hell is Connor Hawke?” She said mustering up all the strength and courage she had to sound as unaffected as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He heard the string’s tension, lifting his chin and freezing at the demand. There was a moment of slanting his eyes, green pupils sliding back and forth before he turned about, seeming genuinely confused.
“Mia? What are you…? Hey…” He lift his hands, taking a quiet step back. He looked to her, worried seeming now and using one of his most soothing tones. “Mia… This isn’t what you think it is. Don’t do anything you will regret. Think it through. I work for SHIELD, remember? We’ve been trying to get to the bottom of this problem, and if you don’t let me finish my contact, the aliens will know.”
~~~~~~
Really? Really? If she’d had any doubts to begin with they would have disappeared with the shifting eyes. Honestly, she knew Connor. He was one of the only people she could say saw through her perfectly. But that wasn’t exactly a one way street. She knew him too.
“Bullshit.” She spat out. “Where is Connor?” She repeated, refusing to be distracted. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears.
~~~~~~
“I’m…” He sighed, looking down before frowning directly at her. “They’ve got Ollie, Mia. This is a lot bigger than you think. I don’t know what I need to do to prove it to you… Ask me anything you need to.” He lowered his hands, but didn’t move forward or tense.
~~~~~~
She’d been extremely worried about Oliver. More than she could possibly say. After all, he’d been in Star City, and then said he was going to the island for a bit and took off on one of his wilderness treks of self-discovery. Mostly, however, she worried about him not knowing what was going on. However, for all she knew he could be missing. He very well could be the next person to come home and not be himself.
But that didn’t change what she’d just heard and what she’d just seen.
The skrull put it’s hands down as a fake show of faith, which is what Connor would do, but Mia didn’t move to put her bow down. “I said bullshit.” She repeated. “Where’s Connor?” She said taking care to look like she was aiming carefully, but she’d already figured out where to hit if she had to.
~~~~~~~
A small, awkward smile, so very Connor-like. “You’re… going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you? So what can I say to prove it to you?” He looked down to his palms, spread his hands a bit. “Do you really need me to bring it all up? When I first moved in, you would say things just to throw me off. It’s fine, really, kinda sisterly I suppose, except some of the things were definitely not things for a sister to say, but then… Well, hard street life.”
His gaze was focused on hers, taking a step forward. “I never asked you for details. I really didn’t need to. That’s just not something you ever want to talk about. That’s your past, right? And one thing you never do is go back. If you lose that arrow, though, understand, you can’t take it back.”
~~~~~~~
If she hadn’t seen it… She might actually be convinced by him. That small smile was how Connor was. “Well, you know me. Stubborn to a fault really.” She replied dryly. Except that this thing didn’t know her. Not in the least. Not at all.
But it was trying to get under her skin. Trying to prove that obviously he was legit because he knew things. She instantly stepped back when he stepped forward.
One thing though? She knew how you couldn’t take something like that back. She’d killed before. “Where’s he at?” It was the last time she was asking.
~~~~~~~
“Mia, it is me. Look at me. Look me in the eye. I know things about you no alien would. I know about how you grew up. I know you had to make money in ways I wish you didn’t have to. I know you were forced into situations you should never have had to be in.” He was advancing, one slow step at a time. “And you know if there is one person on this Earth who would never hurt you, it’s me. Now please…”
He didn’t lift his hands, in fact, kept them close to his side. Then the fingers twitched, a swift blur, wrist snapping out to fling the small throwing knife from his side out at her.
~~~~~~~
She kept backing up. She knew this was over. She wasn’t going to get any information at all. And she let her bowstring go the second she saw his hand begin to twitch. She ducked and rolled but that knife embedded in the wall right where her neck had been. She’d barely dodged out in time.
She already had an arrow pulled and in place by the time she got to her feet. This was over now. She was going to take this thing out. She realized even if it killed her. Which she was beginning to think was a distinct possibility. She carefully aimed as she stared the skrull down, predicting his movement as to not miss again.
~~~~~~
The weight was thrown to the side, narrowly missed by the arrow, skimmed along the side of his cheek. The audacious little human had been aiming for his eye. There was no reason to hold back now. Her next arrow came toward him and the arm raised, turning into a green, leathery shell. The backhand sent it skimming harmlessly away, scraping the hardened skin without effect. Then he was hand springing forward, large claws forming as he came down with both hands and forcing her to retreat. Another arrow, and he retreated as well, agiley dodging over the couch.
Now he had Connor’s bow and arrow. The Skrull came up, shooting at her swiftly to stave off her coming near.
“Using ‘Dad’s’ bow? As though you’re worth touching it.” He aimed, waiting to see the blond hairs peep out, shot and narrowly missed her. “You’re a gutter tramp. The only reason he took you in was because you were pitiful.”
~~~~~~~~
She didn’t have time to be taken aback by that like she might have otherwise been. Because cruelty spewing from Connor’s mouth was off putting. Actually, off putting was an understatement. She ducked behind a recliner and could practically feel the arrow whiz over the top of her head. Arrows, really any firearm, shot in close quarters was dangerous and almost impossible to not get hit with. She could feel the ankle holster with her knife in it. She’d been walking around armed since this started.
Last resort though. She pulled an arrow. Noting it was a low density explosion, probably no more than a powerful firecracker. “Psychological torture. How fucking quaint.” She said aiming for the floor by him for a distraction. She pulled another arrow and aimed for the throat. She wasn’t sure if that would work, but she didn’t need to be constantly aiming at the same place.
~~~~~~~~
“Pitiful and young. Think what would have happened if you were but a few years older.” The Skrull looked entirely like Connor once more when he released another arrow. “You were saved because you were a kid. You’re tolerated only because you still are, despite all your noise and pig-headedness. Alas, you would make a poor slave for us.” He aimed, getting her almost in his sight. “So it is best if you were exterminated, as you should have been long ago.”
He heard the thunk on the floor nearby, shot a glance toward the arrow and started to scramble. He knew that tactic, if not by experience from what he had absorbed from the Green Arrow. It still imbalanced him, feeling the heat of the small blast and having to guard himself from the flare of heat.
He didn’t even hear the thwip! of her next arrow. It just felt like he had been punched. He looked down at his shoulder, realizing, then the sharp sting of the arrow shaft coursed through him. Grimacing, he stood in the lee of the bookshelf, hand flexing to maneuver the muscles to at least work.
~~~~~~~~~
“You really should have read up on some Earth history. We don’t do slavery well.” She aimed again while he stood leaning on the bookcase. She couldn’t remember if it was the Kree or Skrull part of Teddy that helped him heal, which was a horrible thing to blank of at the moment, but she wasn’t going to pull her punches here. She let the arrow fly to where she really wanted and ran jumping over the couch to put as much distance as she could.
She was noticing that her quiver was starting to feel rather light. She really should have made sure it was filled to the brim before putting it on. She glanced up to see if her arrow met it’s target.
~~~~~~~
“You didn’t have the right masters.” Eyes narrowed, hand reaching into the bookcase and pulling out a volume. “Don’t think harshly of us for this. After all, in your case, this is mercy, a culling of things with no use.”
He calculated her shot easily, the arrow snapping through the cover of the book. Next he was stepping out from behind his shelter. The book was flung at her, and he was right behind it, leaping up onto the couch, long claws stretching from his hands and leaping for her much like a cat on prey.
~~~~~~~
She had one chance, luckily she hadn’t witnessed any super speed, and in general someone coming at something with that fast of a velocity… Well they were traveling on a set path. She stood the fastest she ever had and shot, barely aiming. She didn’t even know if she’d hit him, just that the skrull knocked her off her feet. She landed on her back hard and the back of her head hit the floor with enough force for her vision to swim. Adrenaline and the stars she was seeing didn’t even let her notice the fact that the skrulls claw had actually gotten her. His hand landed between elbow and side and her shirt was ripped and two long cuts were there. The quiver dug into her back.
Mia brought the bow up and hit the skrull with as much strength as she could muster, fighting to get him off of her. She kicked, and pushed until the feeling of warm stickiness came over her. She looked at herself. The Skrull, which was now reverted to it’s real form was bleeding profusely all over her. She made a strangled, horrified sound and pushed him off of her with all her might. She scrambled away backwards until her back hit the wall.
The skrull didn’t seem to be moving at all. It was looking up at the ceiling with dead eyes. Mia pulled the last arrow from the quiver and pulled the bow string as far as she could. It wasn’t far, but he was so close to her. They healed quickly right? Her hand was shaking a bit and she willed it to stop. She really needed to pull herself together. She let the the string go and the arrow went straight into the side of the skrulls neck.
She finally felt herself breath again. Shaky unsteady breaths, and she pulled the knife from her ankle anyway and held it out in a defensive motion, just in case. It took a minute to believe it might really be dead.
That was when leaned over beside herself and threw up.
After a long couple of minutes she pushed her hair out of her face, realizing that really all it did was serve to smear blood from her hand to her hair. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. The screen was cracked in a few places, but otherwise it was fine.
She quickly scrolled through her contacts and hit send to a contact she had coded in her phone as BW-B. It rang, and while it did, she tried to will her hand to stop shaking. The other person finally picked up. They had to call her name a couple of times to get her attention. She took a steadying, large breath before responding almost robotically, “There’s a dead skrull in my living room.” She didn’t say anything else. She just let the phone slide out of her fingers, and she gripped the knife tighter with white knuckles as she stared at the body that had had Connor’s face.