jaebird (jaebird) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-01-13 17:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | day ten, jae, jae and wu, wu |
story swap
Characters: Jae and Wu
Setting: The gym, morning
Already, Wu felt strange; good strange, sure, but it was damned early to start with the unfamiliar thoughts and perspectives. He’d woken with them though, and had likely been plagued with them all night after his talk with Carmel. Still, he was adamant that it had been the drinking the day prior that had let him sleep so soundly, and not his candid talks with her, Wren, or Becka.
But if he could consider the idea, Wu might’ve realized that the simple act of venting that he’d indulged in with each of the women had bled off some of the pressure he’d been under, and even played a large part in driving away his apathy. And he was getting there, even if he still couldn’t admit it. What he could admit was that he’d woken with fire inside again, letting it spur Wu through his morning routines again.
A shave and shower, messages on the terminals, a plan for breakfast eventually, and a trip across the muddied courtyard had brought him to the present moment in the gym. With a fresh shirt hanging from the weight bench with a towel, Wu spurred himself through his exercise regimen with sharp huffs of breath punctuating each closed-fist push up he did as he savored the ache and strength contrasting with each other along the length of his arms.
Jae needed to blow off some steam. Mostly because she'd spent all fucking night trapped in an elevator with a dude who seemed to have his head firmly lodged where the sun don't shine. Well. That and the claustrophobia. That was super fucking fun. In the end, she'd climbed the ladder to fuck around with that one bolt four, five times total. Her thumb, forefinger and middle fingertips were all shredded, though she'd done the minor first aid on them that she figured she needed. It wasn't worth bothering the doc or the nurses over it.
She threw on some gym clothes and went there, determined to punch away some stress. Both from last night and the message on the computers that morning. Because fucking seriously, people. What. The. Fuck.
She walked in and dropped her towel on the bench, looking over and spotting Wu. He was hard to miss. And, in greeting, she gave him a nod, but didn't speak to interrupt him.
In all, there was a few minutes there where Wu said nothing, just raising and lowering on his fists with those little huffs of breath, and eventually a louder one of acknowledgement for Jae’s arrival. His head raised from his position on the ground to regard her, and at last he stopped with his arms extended, drawing his feet under him.
“Jae,” Wu greeted as he stood, moving for his towel and giving a clear view of the prison ink across his back. They’d never had a proper introduction, but between crossing paths in the courtyard and speaking on the terminals? Wu knew who she was, and had been curious about her. “Strange days find us anew.”
"Absolutely." she agreed. She started to tape her hands up, stretching a little as she did so. "So how did your night go? What with the lovely little power outage." she said. "Anything interesting happen?" she asked curiously. She was actually happy he was talking to her. She wanted to discuss a few things, and if he was opening up with 'interesting times', or the equivalent thereof, then that was all the better.
Grabbing his towel, Wu flexed his own hands stiffly before starting to wipe at the sheen of sweat on his chest and back. He’d already pushed through strikes on the weighted bag, bench presses, and more than enough push ups and sit ups to see him through the day. A bit of company in a cooldown? That wasn’t a bad idea. “Soothing,” Wu answered as he moved for the water he’d left near his shirt. “Storms have always been calming things. There was little disturbance in this wing of the facility,” he elaborated before taking a drink, “And yourself? What has been done to your hand?”
"Storms I don't mind. I just was trapped partially underground for it." Jae answered, stretching more. "I was on my way to do some laundry, and was in the elevator with one of the new guys when the power died. So, that was fun." she said drily. "I'm glad it wasn't ridiculous for everyone, though."
She glanced at her hand. "This is from me. I'd prefer it if you didn't actually let anyone know this, but I'm not great with tight spaces. But, if you don't control fear it controls you. So, I took steps to make sure it didn't get the best of me. Unfortunately, when you're trapped in an elevator, in the shaft, there isn't a whole lot to do. So, I was working at bolts by the door. Shredded the shit out of my fingers, but I stayed okay up here, so I'm calling it a win." she told him, gesturing at her head.
With a little grunt of acknowledgement, Wu raised his own hand to show the remnants of his pinky, nodding in understanding. “Controlling fear to find strength, I know this idea,” he agreed, thinking back across the decades. There had been a gun to his head and a knife in his hand, and even after prison? Cutting off his own finger to save his life hadn’t been easy.
But he wouldn’t be distracted by the old memories; Wu was too intrigued that Jae was even sharing the insight with him. They scarcely knew each other beyond any details that were available to everyone here, so to have that snippet of her phobia shared? It was curious. “And who were you trapped with? They helped in the effort, I would hope,” Wu continued intently, always eager to get any tidbits he could about the newer arrivals to the facility.
That was definitely a story, she was thinking. But she was glad that they'd tred nearly immediately on a common thread. That was a good place to start from. And, after last night's conversation with Aaron, she could use a better conversation. "I was trapped with Aaron, one of the new guys, and he tried the door with me when it first shut down, after that, I was on my own--though purposely. I didn't really want the help after that, I just wanted to have a focus." She paused. "So if I ask about the finger, are you going to tell me it's none of my business? Or can I get a story?"
Subtle as it was, there was some faint amusement on display when Jae asked for more detail. It was a slight crinkling at the corners of Wu’s eyes, an extra purse to his lips for a moment as he debated the request. She was being open, though, and Wu never seemed to mind the details of his past. Other people did, sure, but him? Not so much. “Aaron,” he echoed first, nodding in consideration, “I have not met him yet.” But he’d seen postings on the journals; the angry poll and today’s missive about their supposed jobs.
“The finger was removed in 1983,” Wu began without warning or preamble, leaping right to her request. “I came to New York from prison in Kansas. Leavenworth. I began small, I was alone in those first days. Cocaine, primarily; I would purchase and cut small amounts for resale, but I learned belatedly that the blocks where I was peddling were claimed by self-styled yakuza.” He had a flicker of a smile at one corner of his mouth for just a moment, head shaking as Wu paced a bit, taking another swallow of water.
“Three of them caught me, they took my money and product,” he recalled evenly, “Then brought me to a derelict building. I was given a knife, and one of them put a gun to my head. I was told... I was told to remove a finger, for my disrespect in coming to their territory. If I did, they would let me live.” There was something dangerous showing as he spoke, some unhidden lethality in his eyes and poise that Wu wore naturally. Not a threat in the moment, but a definite part of him. “I was scared, but the fear gave way to... to anger. And I realized, just before I cut, that they should not have given me that knife.” So much was unspoken in those words, but he was confident that Jae could pick it all out: Wu had been the only one to walk away from that encounter. “I kept the finger,” he added at the end, the humor flashing again before Wu took another drink.
Jae listened to the details of his story, though showed no signs of being either surprised or squeamish. She merely listened, and nodded as he gave the details. Well, that and she marked in her mind that just as suspected, Wu was Not The Man With Whom To Fuck. "What would you say the moral of the story is?" she asked, curious.
It was a fair question, and not one Wu could remember really being asked. Most of the time people either withdrew from him or fell in line when they learned of his past exploits. “I would say there are several options,” he answered, “First of which? You do not know your limits when your safety is unthreatened. Second, fear is necessary. It is universal, but overcoming it is not. The focus you spoke of... that is what propels any of us beyond the ordinary. And last?”
Wu turned to grab his shirt, draping it over a shoulder errantly to let it hang next to the ink of his eclipsed sun. “If you intend to kill a man, remove any variables that will let him do the same. The remnants of my finger reminded me of all those things,” he offered easily. “What meaning would you take from this tale?” He was curious as well, now that Jae had asked. It was almost entirely unheard of for Wu to want to know someone else’s perspective on himself, but this place? It was changing all of his rules.
Listening to him explain what he took away from it all was interesting. She watched him as he spoke, getting a better assessment out of just that than anything else. It was a decent chunk of insight, that was for damn sure. "What I take away from it is that no one should ever threaten an unknown quantity." she told him. "They took you in, not knowing who they were fucking with, and assumed, laughably incorrectly, that they were the big dogs in the room. But that's the thing--until you take the time to assess everyone? You have no idea what you're dealing with."
He nodded smartly at that, surprised and pleased by Jae’s reasoning. It had been unsaid in the story; he’d been alone in a vast city, on what turned out to be enemy ground. But as she said? He’d been an unknown factor. “A very important lesson to hold close in a place like this, and one I have kept near since the first day,” Wu agreed, “You will never know if another’s desire to survive burns brighter than your own until you see it tested.” Which had him focusing more intently on her now, just studying how Jae focused on her stretches and preparedness.
“Who taught you to maintain an assault rifle?” Wu asked abruptly, recalling her poll on the journals. She’d outed one choice as true, and now? Between her poise, her insight on Wu’s story, and her determination in the elevator? He could guess which other was truth.
"Among other things." Jae said to his first bit, but she gave him a smile as she did so. "As for the assault rifle, that was my dad." she told him. "I was close with him. Wanted to follow in his footsteps. His and all of my fake uncles." she said, giving pinches of information, because he was being so free with his. That and she really was figuring that the more she knew about him the better, for a number of reasons. "Unfortunately, I wasn't actually able to in the way I wanted, but that didn't mean I didn't spend my childhood learning anything anyone would take the time to teach me."
“Because of the murmur,” Wu noted curiously, turning each little bit of information around in his head for any connection to the next. It was a sparse handful of detail, sure, but he liked a good puzzle. And hopefully Jae would correct him if he was wrong, or let him know when he had things right. “This is a condition that limits service? Soldiering?” he ventured, thinking it’d fit with the reference to fake uncles.
So he paid attention to the journals, as well. Sharp tack, clearly. She nodded confirmation when he said it, however. "I was unable to join the military, in any branch. So, my dreams all swirled down the drain. Or, well, sort of. I didn't let them get that far. I just...shifted them." she shared. Jae winked at him. "Can't keep a determined, special forces brat down."
His eyes narrowed intently at that admission, and while Wu was still guessing in his own mind? He was feeling more confident with each guess, and especially so with this one. She’d had qualities to her movement in the courtyard before, had been in the company of the true soldier, Brady, and the other man, Jason. All three of them shared the step and sway Wu recognized; the traits that spoke of being able to hurt with bare hands alone. “I have not met a true mercenary in quite some time,” he dared out loud, watching her for signs of being right or wrong. “And not on American soil, when I did.”
"You're good." Jae told him, a light little compliment in nod to his deduction. "But you'd have to be, with how big and bad you got out there." she added. "But consider yourself updated on merc-meeting. I did what I could. Had a unit of my own, we were...effective." she told him. And they had been. Shit just went sideways, like they were wont to do. It happened, even to crazy assholes who thought themselves immortal. No one was. She was intensely aware of that.
Wu had a short little bark of amusement at her compliment, an exhale as much as anything else. He didn’t get called that often, even if he understood her use of it. “What was your specialization?” he asked curiously, remembering from his old dealings that the men he’d known filled very specific operational roles. “And how does one in such work end up here? I would think you must have connections to find such tasks at all, these connections could prove useful in avoiding prison.”
Jae grinned at him at the laugh. She even dropped a wink at him. "My specialization? This and that." she said. "Though I can drop just about anyone with a firearm. If it's got a trigger, I'm all over it." she added. Sadly, there were no guns in here. "I also just know what I'm doing, how to handle myself. I'm not socially backwards, I can think on my feet, I've got some sharp situational awareness going on. Shit like that." she told him. "I imagine you've got a head for the big picture, tactically speaking." she added, seeing if he'd share any more on his end as well.
"As for how I wound up here...yeah, I did have connections. But connections only go so far. I was in the middle of a situation that was all kinds of fucked up. Foreign nationals involved, human trafficking, kidnapping, ex-military sorts...it was a bad action flick up in there. Just, y'know, without the trite ass happy ending."
That sounded like a situation Wu had happily avoided throughout his career. Even in the bloodiest days of his conquests, he’d kept the warfare between gangs and the odd cop or bystander, and had always ensured it would be brief if only by how vicious his methods had been. “Situations such as either of ours never end happily,” he agreed, “Even if it may seem otherwise? It is not an ending, just a respite before turmoil returns.” No, it was absolute truth that life by the sword (or gun) tied one’s ending to it.
“And one does not hold power for long without a larger view,” he confirmed, “It is, or was, very tedious at times. Much of my time was spent fighting with finances, coordinating bribes and shipments, or refining appearances of legitimate business. The times when others forgot their place, or when the law believed itself more clever than those it constrained? Those made the tedium worthwhile.” Those, and the people he’d helped; the girls who worked for him, the shopkeepers who washed his money, the families of his soldiers.
"Showing up the cops and smacking bitches back into line was what made it worth it for you?" she asked, since that had been what it sounded like. "You were kingpin to be the man on top?" She leaned back on her arms, focus still entirely on him. She kept judgment from her tone, merely asking the question to get clarification for herself.
“Chinatown is a world in itself,” Wu clarified evenly, not outright disagreeing with Jae’s assessment, “The people who call it home do so in ways much of this country cannot understand. They are a dispossessed lot, and all they have exists among each other, and in its’ borders. The police of the city did not grasp this, they would shatter what has been built there for generations. Denying them the triumph of upending what is sacred? Yes, it satisfied.” He nodded there, finally starting to pull on his shirt as he felt his skin dry somewhat stiffly.
“And the others, the rivals within and without? They would rule simply to rule. They lack, as you say, a head for the big picture,” he went on expansively. “There was a woman, Mrs. Li. For twenty-six years, I would greet her in the markets each morning. If you asked, she could tell you what has changed, which businesses flourished and which failed, how the streets and markets and very pulse of Chinatown flowed through the years. To these upstarts? She was simply an old woman. And to them, our shared home was nothing but a larger heist to be bled dry with no thought for tomorrow, or ten years from it. I sustained it, and it sustained me in turn. This was a lesson these fools were better to learn, if they showed humility enough to deserve it,” Wu explained with a clear note of defiant pride, starting to fasten the buttons of his shirt.
Jae understood about the separate world thing, nodding from time to time in his tale. It was a little like that growing up on bases as well, and in her tenure as a mercenary, she'd been through communities just like the one he was describing. She also understood the importance of the woman in question. She was a big believer in local information in general. There was nothing like a view from the ground like that. Someone in familiar surroundings, who knew shit other people weren't going to. The best intel in the world could be gotten from the right source. And that source wasn't always someone who'd look good in an action film.
"What happened when you fell?" she asked. "What happened to your world?" She figured no one who cared about a place like he described would be uninformed on that shit. He'd know exactly what happened.
And that question? That cracked the composure. Wu’s lips pursed thin, his jaw knotting tight and tensing at one corner as he looked down to focus on the buttons of his shirt for a moment. “Discord,” was all he said initially, working each button closed. “My betrayers bled my assets dry and turned on their brothers and sisters. Territories were divided among them, loyalists were swayed or killed.”
The tension crept to Wu’s forehead as he started to roll his sleeves, working the fabric of his shirt to just below each elbow. “My arrest was prominent. Interpol was involved, hoping for my contacts in central Asia and eastern Europe. Those contacts in this country fled, severing my ties across the waters. Many of my lieutenants... I do not know. They went into hiding, I can only hope they survive still. And Chinatown? It suffers.” His girls suffered, his few friends and many supporters. They all paid for his blindness.
Nodding, a single incline of her head, Jae followed the narrative he was giving her. She took away from it that he'd been betrayed, obviously. Which blew. Trust was hard to come by. She knew she would have been devastated if any of her team had done the same. And while it wasn't the same thing, of course, she got the sentiment behind it, and therefore could relate at least on that level. "You going to have that taken care of, at some point?" she asked, tone indicating that she very much believed that was the plan. Because the man standing before her wasn't one who was in the midst of defeat. This was a man who was just waiting.
“I will see to them myself,” he confirmed with a slight nod, uncaring that the cameras watching them could see and hear as much. Nothing in his file could’ve convinced anyone that Wu planned on changing, or giving up his blood feud. “When I leave this place, they will contend with what their choices set in motion. Two years of power will not seem worth what they will endure.” Though he hoped they enjoyed it, because he planned on making their deaths feel twice as long. “This facility, it is an easier option than leaving Southport, and if I do so with a new identity? So much the better,” Wu mused, “I have some good years left to me yet. And you have many more. What would you do with them, if your freedom is returned?”
Jae was entirely unsurprised. It was interesting, at the very least. She took all of it on board though, filing it all away. Wu was an interesting man, with a fascinating history, and it all added up to someone that she was never going to overlook when assessing the situation as a whole. But he also seemed very honest, and that she respected and appreciated. Hopefully he could draw the same from her. "I haven't worked that out yet." she told him. "I'm dealing with the here and now, at current. I'll work out what I'm doing if and when that happens then. Probably my second move would be to see if any one of my old team is still around, figure out where they're at in the first place. The first would be to go home. See my family and extended 'family'. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the training they'd given me."
For any difficulty he had when it came to others reading him, Wu actually hoped Jae could see a touch of appreciation up to this point. Honesty came easily to him, sure, but the level of detail he’d shown in speaking with her? That was a different story, and he’d actually given more to her than he had to prosecutors offering to lessen his sentences. “Prudent,” he commended at Jae’s first words, “And sensible. I hope you find them, family and comrades alike.” He knew, after all, how crucial they were to one’s survival.
It wouldn’t surprise Wu that thoughts of them kept Jae going when things seemed hopeless, and in his own case? Any surviving comrades were going to be key to his revenge. In hers, they might be the keys to understanding, or to setting things right. The two of them were similar, he was realizing: not entirely parallel, but close enough in some ways that Wu could accept the younger woman’s company without the self-awareness he felt around the other women here.
Jae smiled at him. "Thank you." she said. "And I hope you reach your goals." she added. She was guessing it would mean a high body count, but she'd dropped her own share of people. People like he was describing. It didn't mean she wasn't aware that he'd done terrible things as well. She got that. She also knew, from experience, that the world was not a black and white place. It simply wasn't, no matter how much people wanted to cast it in that light. She was willing to view Wu in a grey area currently. Grey was fine by her. “We should get together again.” she said, putting it out there that she wanted to develop some sort of regular contact with him.
“I will be available,” Wu confirmed with a slight nod. “Few here make regular requests for my time, and wisely so. But my own affairs leave much room for meeting. Should you have any particular need, my room is twenty-three, and I will respond to any message on the terminals.” He was fine with the idea of seeing Jae again, even regularly; she doubtless had stories of mercenary’s work that would entertain, and seemed keen on his own tales as well. Plus, only a fool would fail to see the potential in knowing her, if and when trouble arrived.
And while he definitely wouldn’t say as much? Wu was slowly beginning to enjoy these social chances he found himself in. Without the threat of assassination hanging over him, there was no reason to limit himself so much, not any more. “If there is no need, I will send word in the near future. Lunch, perhaps. I will cook,” Wu offered as he finished with his shirt.
"Room twenty-nine for me. And, lunch. It's a plan." Jae told him, giving him an amused little smile. "See you soon." she added, not wanting to keep him, but all in all she was pretty happy with this encounter. It was bound to be interesting in the long run, regardless of what happened.