Dante "Inferno" Zaragoza - Death'll find you... (xolotl) wrote in repose, @ 2020-01-20 21:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | *log, dante zaragoza, leena bertolini |
[Log] Dante & Leena - Rumors & Secrets [COMPLETE - Part 1 of 2.]
Who: Dante & Leena
What: Rumors & Secrets
When: BACKDATED: Dec 29th
Where: Repose: Down by the creek
Ratings/Warnings: language. Always language.
Was Dante afraid of Leena possibly being an agent for Spider? Yes. Were they coming up on a timetable and interpersonal connection relevance that it would make sense for Leena to launch an attack against Dante if she was working for Spider? Also yes. Three months. Three months would be when she’d start to feel safe. Three months was where her litmus test came into play. Most assassins wouldn’t waste more than three months hunting after someone like her. Not from her research, not if the dark web was to be trusted from what she could find. It’d been almost two months since Dante had moved to Repose, January 3rd would be two months exactly, Feb 3rd would mark three months - the point where she wouldn’t be paranoid about every single new person in her life - and over two months since she’d met Leena for the first time. One fateful night filled with murderous intent, costumes, code names and a surprising level of functional dysfunction for two people who had never worked together before in a high tension scenario. That was why Inferno had gone back and offered Artemis a chance. A chance at working together. Had them working so well off of each other been a fluke? It could have been. There was only one way to test it though and… They would. There was always a huge amount of crime that happened in large metropolitan areas. Maybe if they worked well together on the coming mission Inferno would keep an eye and ear open for more problems around The Capital. For more missions they could work together on. Just because Dante… Inferno… Was here for Spider, it didn’t mean they couldn’t clean up whatever other garage happened to be lying around. She’d do it alone if she had to but…. If… Artemis wanted to help…. Besides, The Capital would need protectors after she’d left. If Artemis was the protector of The Capital after she left? Assuming Artemis wasn’t some slack-jawed, doe-eyed newb attempting to scamper around and make a name for herself right now? The Capital would be left in good hands. Especially considering the grappling gun alone? That lead Inferno to tend to think that this wasn’t Artemis’ first rodeo. Aside from a number of other factors that Dante had been compiling in her head since the very first moment they met. Leena was smart, she caught on quickly. Leena had also proven she was patient, aware of her surroundings, capable of coming up with alternative solutions, could think on her feet. Leena had claws to fight back with. Leena was adaptable and flexible and capable of taking control if given the opportunity to dominate while still being able to be soft, caring, considerate and wanting to help. Leena had a good heart. Dante had been keeping count. That was why when Leena texted her - sensing a message from Leena made her eager to ‘read’ it and reply which was…. dangerous - Dante had quickly ‘read’ the message in her head anyway. Leena needed to talk about something - anxiety, instant anxiety - and Dante’s brows furrowed, concern etching itself across her face as she popped off a message back saying sure, when and where. A discussion had happened and ultimately Leena had advised for them to meet down by the creek in Repose and Dante had suggested they do it after she got off work so that Leena could have all the time she needed to talk. An agreement to see each other soon had been made with purple emoji hearts from Dante and all but the conversation end had felt heavy to her still. Stilted? … Weird… Something was wrong and she hadn’t an idea what. When Leena had told Dante via text that she would need to bring a phone with the ability to do internet searches? That hadn’t settled well with Dante at all and habits she’d been trying to avoid were quickly reverted to. Soft-jacking her brain into the web had allowed Dante to hastily cross reference facial and eye scan identifiers across the web which had…. Well… The information she’d gathered was… Interesting. The pictures, the bits about the Wainright, the missing persons report, the length of time, the…. The puzzle forming was fast, hard and… One she wasn’t sure she liked. There was that familiar tension, that dread of the unknown that settled in the bottom of her gut like a weight that refused to move throughout the work day. Dante couldn’t help a constant checking of the clock that turned into timers being set so that she’d stop looking at the clock. Then there was the countdown that started in her head thirty minutes out to dumping her shop coveralls and jogging off to Dart while waving goodnight to Diego before hopping in the car and driving off. What the hell was she doing? She was going to get herself killed. It’d be around 7:30 at night by the time Dante would make it down to the meeting spot bundled in jacket, scarf and gloves with a thermos full of coffee and a take out bag from the diner across from the shop with food for two. It was by the grace of her phones flashlight that she hadn’t landed on her ass yet as she moved to the spot they’d agreed, so at least there was that. “Hey.” Would be the soft, warm greeting as eyes finally caught sight of Leena and a wave would be offered even though her hands were full. “Thought maybe if I brought dinner, you’d humor me by eating some.” It was good humored, caring, lightly playful in its own way as she’d move to sit before settling the thermos and take out down between the two of them. “So, what’s up?” The question was open and welcoming as hands retrieved a takeout container that would be offered to Leena with a slight smile. Dante had guessed on what Leena liked but based on what she’d seen the other woman eat in the past? Dante was fairly certain she’d guessed right. And if this was an ambush? Well… Hopefully, Leena would at least let her eat her dinner first. The spot by the creek was remote enough that it probably would be a good place to kill someone. Except for this particular spot was frequented by her enough that her footsteps were everywhere, and there was probably some stray DNA laying around somewhere. Was it widely known that it was her spot? Not so much. She didn't invite people out here, usually deciding to meet them somewhere in town, somewhere public, or somewhere else in other cases. Second? Her posture was all wrong for attempted assassination, unless she was really good at being a possum. She'd already started a small fire, just something to keep them a little warmer in the night, but her butt was planted on a large, mostly flat rock, her knees tucked up to her chest, and head tilted back slightly so she could see the stars through a clearing in the trees. Her hair was down, which was fairly unusual, but she liked the feeling of the wind through the strands. It was calming, like fingers massaging her scalp without having to endure the touch of another person. Her hoodie was stretched out over her legs, but the hood was down. It could have been up, but then she would've missed the wind. Neither was she armed beyond herself, but that was part Bruce wasn't it? She didn't need weapons, but she wasn't here to hurt Dante. No, she was here for something else, especially after she'd heard about the rumors from Marta. Everyone else in town? She could give a shit less about them, if they thought she was some sort of fucking monster that ate Bruce and Cat and Jason and Steph. The truth? Of everyone, Dante probably deserved that, but there was a fucking lot that went into it. Who she was. Where she had been. Why she was Leena and not Helena. She worried the sleeve of her hoodie as she tried to arrange the words in some way that made sense, right up until the moment when she heard Dante coming through the underbrush. Was it too late to run? She exhaled heavily out of her nose and bobbed her head a little in greeting. "Hey." Her stomach rumbled at the promise of food, but the rest of her was sitting on hard pass. "Maybe later?" Which was pretty much never her answer when it came to food, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to keep it down. "You wanna sit?" The rock was large enough for the both of them, if Dante wanted to. “Cool, this one’s yours.” The container in her hands would be shown before being set down back into the bag. The second container would be left alone for the moment. When the person who was clearly food motivated was turning down food? Something serious was up and Dante wasn’t about to make light of whatever Leena might be dealing with. Tying the takeout bags handles together she’d leave it where she’d been before glancing over to where Leena gestured. She could do that, sure. Assuring things wouldn’t blow away quick Dante would move, up and over to sit near Leena where the other woman had indicated. Settling in she’d fall quiet for a minute before taking a large inhale of the night air. Her brain supplied a bunch of useless garbage she could say or do before she’d finally let her eyes rest on Leena. “What’s going on Leena?” There was a gentle concern in her words as Dante would watch, her brain scrambling for which of a million things could possibly be happening right here, right now. How to start? How to -- she watched as Dante tied the handles of the bags together as if that would help trap the heat inside, and she was -- thankful. "Thanks," she said quietly, eyes still on her until the bags were set down. Only then did she turn her gaze back to the heavens as if the answers to all her questions might be written in the stars. Start at the beginning She didn't glance over until she felt the break from the wind and the slightest heat where Dante was at her side. She blinked, steady, worried the seam of her hoodie between her fingers and finally risked another glance over. "So, I'm going to start at the beginning. There are -- there are -- none of this is going to be good," she said with a little dry laugh, because that was the honest truth, wasn't it? None of it was good. "I'm -- there might be some skipping around, but -" she shrugged. There wasn't much she could do about that. Not much she could do about her desire to delay this either, so it was better to just rip the fucking band aid off, chunks of flesh and all. "I wasn't born Leena Bertolini." Yes, that was a good start. Hopefully. "I came here in November of 2015, and all I had was -- were some meds, and an ID that gave my name as Leena Bertolini, so I -- I used it. It was my face, the same face as was on my passport. I mean, why would I have someone else's ID?" There was another dry laugh, because it had made sense at the time. Why would she think it wasn't hers? Especially when the pills were -- and then had come the question of why, and who, was a girl that had a fake ID and passport? "I didn't -- I didn't remember anything else. The doctors I saw said I had psychogenic amnesia, and I--" she shrugged again, audibly exhaling through her nose. "I had nothing else to tell me otherwise, so as far as I was concerned, Leena Bertolini was my name." There was a long considering moment where she thought to try to take Leena’s hand, or to lean against the other woman but without knowing what was going on it was hard to tell if any of that might be acceptable. “Okay.” Was the low response - curious, concerned, worried - when Leena said none of this was going to be good. Dante would continue to watch too as Leena spoke, her eyes narrowing with a hesitant uncertainty - but not angry, not scared - that still seemed prepared to react if needed. Was this…. Spider? Was Leena Spider? No, no that couldn’t be. The timing didn’t seem right. She’d only followed Spider out here about a year and a half ago at this point. Or was this about… The rumors...? Unease seemed to lessen some as Leena kept talking and Dante worked through her own head but eyes kept watching, searching, trying to follow and understand the information being supplied to her while also giving the other woman the space she might need. The mechanic would silently nod along to show she was still listening as fingers drummed absently, passively along her thigh. Only when Leena came to a break in speech would Dante consider speaking. Even then there would be a moment of silence - the facts of her research running through her mind - before she spoke. “Is this something where you need me to listen, offer advice or get involved?” And the words were sincerely looking for guidance on how to approach communicating with Leena to meet the other woman’s needs for the situation they found themselves in. Shifting, a glance would be tossed back to their food to make sure it was still safely there. “Not that I can’t also do all three, because that’s an option too.” There would be a smile offered to the other woman here as her gaze fell to settle on Leena. Until she knew how Leena wanted this to work, she’d fall quiet once more. There's a moment where she went quiet, picking out her words carefully. Did she need -- there was only one of those that she needed. "To listen. This isn't a place where you can give advice." Not even the doctor's had been able to advise her on how to move forward with her past missing. And getting involved? There was only one option there, and it wasn't one that Leena was willing to take just yet. Not for herself and certainly not throwing anyone else in the place of her nightmares. "And it's not -- not something you can really get involved with, you know? You can't change what's happened. Not anymore than I can." She couldn't even change people talking about it. "You just -- you deserve the truth. And people are talking about it, but it's not even -- it isn't even a part of a story. It's one little fact in a whole heap of shit that's --" Leena gestured with her hands to indicate a steaming pile of shit that was as big as she was. When she was told to listen Dante’s mouth closed and all shifting stopped. Instead she’d simply fix her gaze on Leena, letting the other woman talk a moment longer. The concept of something having happened - it was alluded to in many ways now across several of their conversations - earned a furrowing of brows and a slight tilt of her head but Dante remained quietly in place. It was only when Leena finally mentioned people talking that… Wait. There was a long, obviously controlled exhale. “Two things. One. Is this a no touching you need to talk, or can I touch… no, well… Hold. May I hold you while you talk?” It felt weird to ask. “Two. And this is in no way meant to sound angry at you, but it’s going to sound angry: Is this about those fucking bullshit rumors?” And there was some repressed seething rage behind that second part but it very clearly wasn’t at Leena. She finally looked away from the sky with that first question. Had she been asked that before? Cat had given her her distance whenever they got close to this and at the time, even hugging had been out of the question. Cat was an unknown then, even as she became known, and then a man, and then gone. Leena exhaled. Holding was -- arms around her, trapping, trapping, entrapment, containment, control -- and she shook her head, eyes a little wild. "No-- no holding. Touch--" Touch was neutral and her fingers stilled on the seam of her cuff. "Yes, maybe. Depends on how," she answered honestly, fingers starting to work again at the second question. The anger wasn't directed at her, but she still blinked at it, eyes going far away for a minute before she nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "One of them is very true, and you -- you deserve something beyond the gossip fodder." Everyone else in town that spread that shit? They could suck muddy horse hooves. “No holding.” Dante would repeat back with a nod to let Leena know she understood. The pause at the concept of touch though? There would be a moment to think, a moment to consider all the ways they’d touched up until then. Slowly Dante would shift, offering her hand out with fingers spread so that Leena could opt to simply take the hand, or interlace their fingers if she would choose to do so. “How about a hand?” The words would be soft, gently encouraging, a tender smile offered with the words and hand as well. There was a heavy sigh at the confirmation that this was that rumors shit but no more words for a moment as she considered what Leena was saying now. She felt like she should talk, should tell Leena how angry she was at every person in this town for spreading that steaming putrid festering pile of toxic shit and how she already knew Leena’s rumors, and…. But there was…. There was something telling her this wasn’t just about the rumors. “Okay.” Dante would nod. “I hate rumors anyway.” Another soft smile would be offered to Leena. “I’m listening whenever you wanna keep talking.” It took her a minute, watching those fingers creep across the rock and remain open for either taking or not. She took them, her own fingers spider crawling over Dante's until their palms were flush. No alarm bells, no feeling like she was about to crawl out of her skin. There was just the air and Dante's hand in hers. Her head tilted back again, eyes falling closed as the wind rifled through her hair. Keep talking. Where had she been? Her eyes opened again, spied the stars. They'd been her only companion that first night out in the woods, when she'd run and run and run. "I was -- in Prague. I took the first flight I could to the US. Had to go through London Heathrow, but that was fine. And then I walked here. And here seemed pretty good. Got my hunting and fishing license, made a friend, and then one night I went into the bar -- the One Eyed Cat. Have you been? There was this woman working the bar -- pretty, you know." There was a little smile at the memory. "But she knew me and at first I thought -- I thought she was from the facility and then I thought she was mistaken but she wasn't. She was -- she's my mom." There was a soft twinge of wistfulness in her voice, cause it had all seemed so much at the time, like a dream that had no choice but to end horribly because nothing could ever be that good. "That's when I learned my father was here, and my brother, and my adopted siblings." Bruce, and Damian, and Jay, Steph, Dick. "And when I learned I wasn't born Leena Bertolini, but I was born Helena Wainright." As promised, Dante remained quiet for Leena speaking. She’d listen attentively, her gaze on Leena most of the time, the feeling of the other woman’s hand in her own. There was a lot of different thoughts here, a lot of questions, and at the same time blanks Leena didn’t even know Dante had about Leena’s life were being filled. “I haven’t, haven’t had time to do much outside of work.” The smile offered here was a touch apologetic that she couldn’t relate. Any other free time she had since moving to Repose Leena and Chris and Hector and Artemis and Hugh and Clover seemed to take up… Assuming it wasn’t late nights in her workshop by herself or planning a party for people she barely knew simply because no one should be alone on the holidays. After that Dante would simply nod along again, letting Leena take the lead in any touching as she’d become accustomed to doing so far. At the conclusion of speech she’d nod, thinking through what had been said. There were blanks. Blanks that she’d bet Dash on related to why Leena ran away, why Leena had a 2.5 year gap in her record before coming to Repose, why Leena claimed to have been hurt in ways Dante couldn’t imagine, why Leena when they first met had claimed to be damaged, why Leena kept saying ‘no sex’ - when Leena was clearly fucking her - and how the other woman had such familiar panic and startle responses and now a facility? Yeah, she didn’t like any of how this equation was adding up one bit. There was…. “Do I keep listening?” She paused after at last bit because the Wainright name was known, but Dante didn't appear to be bothered by any about it, which was -- it was good, and she let out a breath slow and even as her chin tilted back up. "Don't worry, I don't think it's the same without Cat there," Leena said quietly. The smell of liquor, of dish soap and wax, and the expensive perfume that had hovered on the very edge of her skin -- she breathed in and out slowly again. Even months gone, she still remembered how Cat smelled. "I haven't been since she left anyway," she remarked quietly, half absently. The question made her mentally stumble, her head turning because it didn't -- it didn't fit right. Dante would listen and then it dawned on her what she was really being asked. "You have questions," she said, fairly certain of the answer. “Mm.” Was the hum given about the bar. Bars were… Tricky. Sometimes they were fun, sometimes they were a little too dusty, a little too dim with too much broken concrete and musk and…. Sometimes they were fun. Sometimes they weren’t. “Secret about me? I always have questions.” The admission was… a bit uncomfortable but she hoped it would help lighten Leena’s mood. “But that wasn’t why I was asking.” There’d be a beat as she’d slowly shift her hand, attempting to rub her thumb against Leena’s hand. “I’m trying to give you what you need right now and I’m realizing I don’t know what that is, so I’m asking.” Maybe asking what she should do was bad too, but fuck if Dante knew… What felt like much of anything anymore. There was a little smile at the admission, because Leena got it. There were always questions to ask, things to be curious about, and sometimes the questions weren't really welcome. She gave a little shake of her head. "I don't really need anything. I just -- I felt like you deserved to hear the truth, as piecemeal as it is, from me. Not from people that don't know shit except my name," she said with a touch of bitterness. People that thought she ate her family like some sort of deranged animal. “I wish you’d told me you were worried about the rumors.” Dante would scoot a little closer to Leena and the fire but not invade any further for the moment. Her eyes would drift over the flames, seeming a bit distant for a few seconds before seeming to make a decision in her own head. “ ‘Cause then we’d be eating dinner as you laughed your ass off at my story about how Alison Jonstone owes you an apology and two dozen chocolate chip cookies or else she can never bring her car into my shop again.” Only then would a soft smile be offered back to Leena. “How about dinner now before you get so hungry that eat me alive?” The tone was a little flatter than she’d wished - fucking Christ did she hate rumors - but it was clearly intended as a joke as she’d nod her head back towards the bag of food. "I'm--" Was she worried about the rumors? Not at this point, and it was the truth that bothered her more than the obviously more colorful ones. There was a little smile at what they could be doing instead of being out here, sitting on this rock, but Leena liked it out here. "I don't want Alison Jonstone's apology. It's a small town, we all know shit on one another, you know? I used to be better at lying when I was out and about, but people didn't know me then. They guessed, but I never stayed long enough for any real rumors. Guess that's broken now, huh?" She glanced over at Dante, then the bags of food, but she still wasn't quite ready yet. "You can bring them over if you want. And you should eat, or else I'm going to find you a cow before you starve." Because she wasn't the only one that could pack away some food. “Then Alison Jonstone’s banned from the shop.” With the tone used it was pretty clear Dante had no fucks or remorse to give for rumor mongers and wouldn’t lose any sleep over the lost customer. Though at Leena’s next words Dante would nod. “Rumors are a bitch, it’s a shitty thing to do to a person if it’s true or not, and they’re hell to shake.” Her posture and tone both clearly reflected experience with this sort of thing as she sympathized with the woman next to her. There was a glance given over to the food for a moment before she’d give Leena’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I can wait.” The words were soft before a finger firmly raised in the air. “Don’t fight me, you won’t win this one.” Dante was clearly serious but it was still accompanied with a soft smile. She’d let a moment pass before sighing softly with furrowed brows. “So, I’ve got a lot of questions, but… I think the first one I need to ask is…” There was a lot of ways to phrase this, to approach the question but… It clicked. “What do you want me to call you?” Did she feel merciful enough towards Alison to accept her dry ass cookies so she could keep coming by the garage to get her car fixed? Not really. And for someone motivated by food, that was saying something. Her head tilted back to regard the stars again. Did she care about the rumors? "I don't know that I care. But if she says I ate my family behind my back I'm going to hit her so hard she can chew her ass out with her own teeth." She frowned a little, and nudged her shoulder into Dante's. It wasn't going as bad as she thought it would be, to tell her that hey, she was someone with a completely different history and name and background. Well, maybe not completely different. "Leena," came the almost immediate answer. "I don't -- for a long time Helena just -- just felt like a separate person from me. Some girl I don't remember and don't know." Someone that wasn't even a part of her, but Helena's past was Leena's. Fuck. She'd deal with that later. There was a heavy sigh with a rolling of her eyes given at Alison Jonstone and her bullshit. Just another privileged white bitch that probably spent her time watching day-time television and nodding along to those bitches like a damn bobble head. “Then don’t.” It was a simple solution to the question of caring or not and one Dante felt fairly comfortable with. “Also don’t get yourself arrested please.” And there was just a touch of concern there. “Then you’re Leena.” There would be a slight lean into the other woman’s shoulder. “I didn’t….” There seemed to be a reconsideration to the sentence. “You keep being honest with me on things and I’ll keep trusting you to tell me when things are up that I should know.” The whole attempt at expressing what was in her head - while also trying not to give away too many secrets of her own - came out sounding clunky and odd. Eyes dropped down to their hands, her fingers shifting to attempt to lace between the other woman’s. “Our pasts, they fuck us up, they help shape us, but they don’t make us who we are.” "I won't get arrested." Getting arrested was sloppy. There were times to get caught, and times to not, and this would be one of the latter. "Alison's husband is fucking his secretary anyway, and she's less of a bitch. Kinda think she's going to get what she deserves." In the worst way possible, but Leena mostly kept her mouth shut and didn't spread that shit around town. She turned to face her again, hair falling over her cheek. "It seems only -- fair. You know? My, like, two other friends in town already know, and Sadie never cared, but hiding it is different." Hiding it was scummy, and she would be if she didn't speak up now. It was different too than not being able to talk about it right now, which Dante didn't seem like she'd have a problem with any day of the week. Her fingers tightened around Dante's. "Isn't what shapes us who we are?" She questioned, gently. "It isn't the entirety of who we are, but it -- it shapes us into who we are. Our fears, our hopes, our dreams," and after a moment's hesitation, quietly she added, "Our nightmares." There was a smile offered briefly at Leena not getting arrested. That was one less thing to worry about. Though at the other info about Alison’s husband Dante couldn’t help the disgusted and revolted face made. “Cheaters can rot with maggot infestations while burning in hell.” It was immediate, knee jerk, - venomous almost but not quite - response. One she didn’t even have to think about or be bothered by as it left her mouth. She’d pause, considering for a moment before the fingers of her free hand would rise, approaching Leena’s - attempting to signal the movement about wanting to brush hair out of the other woman’s - face but not acting on anything until some confirmation from Leena was obtained. Until then her hand would hang in the air. “Just be honest with me and we’ll get through.” Maybe worse for the wear but.. Dante generally would move past things as long as people were honest with her and their actions hadn’t been too vicious prior. At the question back she’d pause, letting out a thoughtful hum. “Yes and no.” The words were thoughtful. “I think what happens to us gives us a base of what we’re going to build on. A foundation to build who we are. We choose if we build up being mechanics or rocket scientists, if we live in a tiny cottage or a mansion.” Her words fell off for a moment. “It can shape our emotions, but our emotions drive what we build only if we let them.” There was a faint smile given here, something thoughtful and distant. “If I let my past shape me I’d have never left Brooklyn.” But at the same time she had left Brooklyn because of what had happened to her, but it was her choice to leave to chase Spider. “Probably just stay locked in a house doing remote computer network support and never seeing anyone beside my dad.” There was a brief slightly self-deprecating laugh offered here, it wasn’t happy but it was honest. It was depressing to think about how much more ruined her life could have been. As fucked up as she was… This was - depressingly in many ways - far from the worst. Leena didn't react with the same venom. Cheaters were jerks, sure, but they were light on the scale of assholes she wanted to see dead. She did blink, gaze still on Dante. "So leave them to you so you can blister their souls?" She asked, easy, lips faintly curved. She watched the movement with wary eyes before she gave a slight nod, eyes closing as she felt Dante's fingertips on her face, in her hair and pushing some of the wild strands back to where her head was shaved and behind her ear. "I'm trying. It's not the honesty part that--" It wasn't the honesty that gave her trepidation. "Pretty sure it's not the honesty. I told you in the first five minutes I was damaged goods." She let out a shaky breath. "Mmm," she said, not quite committal in her response. It was something she'd think about later, when she had the space to consider it. Right now her space was her skin, and it felt too damn tight. "Brooklyn, huh?" That did grab Leena's attention. "I lived in Jersey. When I was with my dad I was there, anyway. Or not at a boarding school." And because they'd done it so often before, she leaned forward, eyes open, lips slightly parted, and hovered a few inches from Dante's mouth. "I'm glad you came out and you're seeing more than your dad. You have a lot of people here. Friends. Whatever you want to call them." [A link to part 2...] |