InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Om nom nom!!"

vesper price 😼 selina kyle (darkerthanyours) wrote in thereincarnates,
@ 2020-09-23 01:07:00

Entry tags:

aaron taft, harper kelly, vesper price

Who: Aaron & Vesper (with a side of Harper)
What: First meetings under less than desirable circumstances
Where: An office building in Los Angeles, CA
When: Backdated to Tuesday afternoon, September 8th, 2020
Warnings: BATCAT.

Vesper hated coming here. She knew it was necessary, but everyone else who might come here to meet her for the drop off always inevitably gave her the creeps. She supposed that was sort of the point, but it never got less grating on the nerves. Everyone in the Resistance, other than Joseph, was some degree of insane or megalomaniac. Okay so he technically fit into the latter, but also one she could actually stand. Comes with the territory in an organization like this, she knew. This wasn't her first rodeo anymore then it was Selina's, and everybody in Selina's world was just plain bonkers. Everyone except one. At least within her own family, Vesper more or less knew what to expect. A group full of power hungry, many even power-filled reincarnates who were really just looking to watch the world burn?

No thanks, she'd stick to good, old fashioned burglary.

Unfortunately, that's also why she was here. One of Vesper's many different hobbies happened to involve the procurement of things. All of them valuable, most of them very unique. She'd always been pretty good at sniffing out the things she could get the most money from that people would be dumb enough to spend too much for, but reincarnation really opened up a whole new set of doors for her little side hustle. The game no longer stopped at fancy jewels and expensive antiques (as much as she loved adding those to her own private collection while she searched for potential buyers), now she was able to get her hands on all sorts of things.

A lot of the time reincarnate artifacts boiled down to increasingly bizarre weapons, but really, anything went. That was the beauty of a world without limits, only more possibilities. Anything could be used for something that somebody out there wanted, and Vesper was more than willing to sell her findings to the highest bidder. Naturally, the highest bidder was usually the Resistance. Camelot was too straight laced most of the time to stoop to her level, though desperate times always called for desperate measures, yadda yadda. The Agency probably wouldn't take very kindly to knowing it was her who kept lifting personal reincarnate items before they had a chance to repossess them, so outside of independent contractors, that really only left one group for Vesper to take her wares to.

She was antsy to get this trade over with, so of course they were keeping her waiting. Vesper passed the time by ticking off in her head all of the myriad of different ways she could probably get into this building without using a door if she really wanted to. She wouldn't, if only because she didn't have a good enough reason to at the moment, but she could. It wasn't exactly Fort Knox, and a fairly inconspicuous structure from the outside, though she would be stupid not to consider how many different levels of security they could have running through the place. She also wasn't dumb enough to think this was the real Resistance headquarters, enough time to study it had already told her this building was a decoy. A puzzle for another day.

Leaning her back against the cool stone behind her, Vesper crossed her arms over her chest and huffed a noise of impatience. It'd been ten minutes, maybe fifteen that she'd wasted standing here in this hallway that might as well be a dank tunnel for its lack of natural light and no way out that wasn't backwards or forwards, or one of the rooms on either side of her that didn't even seem to have windows. It was enough to make any girl feel a little trapped. Her dark clothing made her nearly imperceptible from the shadows bouncing off the walls if you were far enough way, but green eyes were sharp enough to spot the approaching figure from some ways down the hall once she looked up. Male, at least six-foot-one, maybe taller. No one she recognized by physique alone, though she'd have to be blind not to notice how appealing his was in particular.

Too bad she was more annoyed that they were giving her the run around. She might have opened with something nicer. (Not likely.)

"It's about time," Vesper called out to the approaching figure, pushing herself lazily off the wall and into the artificial light. Whoever he was, at least he wasn't that bitch in recruitment or her least favorite certified nutso. Dealing with Quinn was never anything but a headache. Kicking a medium sized bag at her feet, Vesper re-crossed her arms impatiently. "Do you want this stuff or not? Because I don't have all day." That was a lie, she made her own schedule, but a very important part of that schedule was to never spend anymore time here then she absolutely had to. It made her cranky.

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darksadlonely
2020-09-25 01:42 am UTC (link)

Aaron wasn’t sure which was worse: running errands for the Resistance, or getting blackmailed into the reincarnate terrorist organization in the first place.

That’s what they were, terrorists. That knowledge existed in the back of his mind long before he became a reincarnate himself, but it conveniently flew away the moment Jo offhandedly linked their name with his parents. (Not Bruce’s, of course, but his warnings came too late, and to ears determined not to hear them.) Looking back, he knew a combination of desperation and misplaced trust landed him in this mess when the girl calling herself his friend promised answers in exchange for him joining her little club. But that was the thing about hindsight: knowing what happened didn’t excuse it, and now?

Now he was pretty well fucked.

They’d kept him on a tight leash since then. Moved him from one coast to another, prevented him from contacting anyone from his “old life.” The only person he wanted to contact was his twin sister, but telling them so was a mistake. Casual threats on her life started almost immediately after that, subtle reminders to keep him in line. Of course the threats worked. Aaron was out of his depth, and he didn’t think it made him a coward to capitulate if it meant keeping Nora safe. He got himself into this. He could get himself out, eventually. Probably. Until then, what choice did he have?

There’s always a choice.

And, as always, your timing is terrible. Aaron let out an exasperated sigh, a frequent occurrence these days whenever Bruce deigned to speak to him. He was alone for the first time in a while, ushered into a hallway with a briefcase to deliver around the corner, so there were no deceptively keen eyes on him to analyze his behavior. Aaron thought it probably could’ve been a lot worse – Harper wasn’t so bad, as far as a handler went. She was just a little… unpredictable. Which was sort of a given, considering the whole Harley Quinn thing.

It was a relief to be out from under Harper’s watchful gaze for the first time in what felt like forever, but that relief was instantly washed away by the task at hand. Though this wasn’t the first errand they’d sent him on, it was the first they made a point of telling him to do on his own. No more trailing Harper like a sad puppy – it was time to show some initiative. There was a part of Aaron that wanted to ask how much initiative they really expected from someone who didn’t want to be here, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say it out loud.

Just dumb enough to get in this situation, apparently.

Bracing himself, he started down the hallway at a brisk pace and turned the corner. The only reason his head wasn’t down was Bruce, who had somehow gotten Aaron in the habit of staying alert. And that, in turn, was the only reason he saw the woman at the end of the hallway before she saw him.

Or, well. Her legs. He saw her legs first, the only part of her visible because the rest of her was leaning against the wall, comfortably in shadow. His pace slowed and he swallowed hard, just as the rest of her came into the light. If his limited experience taught him anything, it was that the women in the Resistance were more dangerous than the men. This woman wasn’t explicitly in the Resistance, but if she was working with them? That probably made her just as dangerous. Maybe even more so.

Best to get this over with, and quickly.

Aaron reached the end of the hallway, stopping a few feet away from the woman. He tried not to notice how striking she was, even if she was plainly annoyed. As she kicked the bag at her feet, a deeply uncomfortable feeling grew in the part of Aaron that was Bruce. Aaron tried not to notice that, too.

“Sorry. I… didn’t mean to keep you waiting." His apology was automatic, a habit he'd never been able to break. He swallowed again, even though his mouth was dry, and offered her a small shrug through hunched shoulders. Hallways like this always made him feel too big for his body. “I guess this is yours?”

He raised the briefcase to show it to her, then set it on the floor in front of him. Unsure of what to do with his hands now that they were free, he stuck them in the pockets of his hoodie. “They, um. They told me to tell you, you can count it first.”

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darkerthanyours
2020-09-26 06:14 am UTC (link)

Well, that was a first. Vesper could probably count one hand the number of times someone had apologized to her and meant it, and none of those people were in the Resistance. Then again, who was to say his apology was at all genuine? Except it only took a quick study to ascertain that he was maybe a little too earnest for his own good. He apologized like he just couldn't help himself, which was somehow even more baffling.

Great, this guy's a rookie. Were they not even bothering to send her the legitimate business transaction people anymore, they could only waste the barely qualified lackeys on her? That was just insulting.

At least, for a lackey, he was pretty easy on the eyes. More than a little rough around the edges too, an oversized body to go with that sad puppy dog look he had written all over his face. Just how she liked them. Maybe it was that, as well as her genuine shock following the unexpected apology, that was responsible for Vesper changing her tune once they finally met each other feet away in the dim lighting of the hallway.

She eyed him a little more closely for a split second before her gaze obligingly averted to the briefcase he'd set down between them, then back up to him. Even if he was some kind of valuable asset to the Resistance, he was definitely new. His hunched posture and the need to hide his hands in his front pockets gave away his lack of comfort in the situation, which unfortunately for him, was Vesper's specialty. Driving people further and further away from their comfort zone was basically a hobby.

Looking a little less annoyed then she had been two seconds ago, Vesper arched a thin eyebrow at him, the corners of her mouth twitching in the ghost of a coy smile. "What, you want to do this right here?"

The counting, she meant, but she also meant for it to sound a little suggestive.

Without waiting for an answer, Vesper picked up her bag of stolen goods and left the briefcase of money on the floor where it was for him to bring in with him. "Don't worry, new guy, I'll be gentle," she told him over her shoulder as she crossed into the room next to them, the only piece of furniture in there a long table, which would be more then sufficient. For the counting.

Setting the bag down on the table's dusty surface, Vesper unzipped it and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to bring the briefcase over to her as she started pulling things out of the bag one by one. Mostly weapons, and almost none of them ordinary looking, though there were a few standard issue guns thrown into the mix. Not everybody in the Resistance was blessed with superpowers, or the intellect to operate anything more complicated then a handgun. Vesper had been around guns her whole life, she was comfortable being near them, though she didn't always know how she felt about using them. Just the way the world turned.

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darksadlonely
2020-09-29 12:46 am UTC (link)

If Aaron thought he was out of his depth before, that was nothing compared to what he felt after the mysterious woman sized him up and correctly inferred his inherent discomfort with overtly suggestive behavior. He wasn’t a prude, but he wasn’t stupid, either – he knew he was attractive, conventionally speaking. There was just a part of him that was always shocked when other people pointed it out, whether with a simple off-handed compliment like “your hair looks nice today” or a more direct overture like "your place or mine?" For better or worse, both tended to leave him speechless. Hers fell on the latter end of the spectrum, though contextually he knew she was teasing. Which only made him more flustered, considering it was the last thing he expected from someone affiliated with the Resistance.

Even if that someone was… Well. Pretty. Very pretty.

Stop. Bruce’s voice cut through Aaron’s thoughts, and Aaron stiffened, closing his mouth (which he hadn’t been fully aware had fallen open in the first place) reflexively. He also noticed a tightening in the pit of his stomach, a physical response brought about by whatever Bruce was feeling, not Aaron. This was happening more and more often lately, and every time it was beyond disorienting. Finish this and get away from her.

Aaron pulled a face while the woman’s back was turned, but it was gone by the time she looked back over her shoulder, if only because he used that moment to lean down and retrieve the briefcase she’d left behind. Sometimes he really hated being the reincarnate of someone so… what was the right word today? Rigid, tight-lipped, domineering? All of the above, more like. Bruce hadn’t exactly been an open book when he first appeared, but since Aaron’s big mistake he tended to spit commands and nothing else. No explanations, no conversations, nothing. He had good reason not to trust Aaron to make the right decisions, but at the same time, it was pretty aggravating. So aggravating Aaron had begun ignoring him out of spite.

So what if this woman was a little flirty? Aaron wasn’t totally helpless. He could handle flirty.

Probably.

“I don’t really believe you, but thanks.” As he followed her inside the empty room, Aaron glanced at the woman with a half-smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Again following her example, he set the briefcase on the table and stepped back, arms crossed over his chest.

His barely-there smile was gone by the time she pulled the first weapon from the bag. One by one, she laid out a series of weapons on the table in front of him. Guns and so much more. Aaron recognized each one of them from the briefing he’d received before the exchange, but seeing them in front of him now left a metallic taste in his mouth, part distaste and part guilt. He wasn’t naive enough to think that these weapons wouldn’t be used the way they were intended. Wasn't much of a jump to think that, once he turned the weapons over, he’d be responsible for someone losing a loved one like he’d lost…

Aaron clenched his jaw. He couldn’t think like that now. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

Instead, he cleared his throat and pointed at the bag. “I, uh, think you forgot one. There’s supposed to be twelve. That’s only eleven.”

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darkerthanyours
2020-09-29 08:16 pm UTC (link)

Vesper was used to overwhelming the average male. Admittedly, she could be a lot, and that was without Selina in tow. This guy, though, she couldn't immediately decide if he really was that green around the gills or if he was somehow the very last modest person in the entire world. With a face like that, it was hard to believe that he didn't know what he looked like, but maybe he just didn't own any mirrors.

Either way, his momentary open-mouthed stare was still satisfying, the edges of Vesper's stretching into a wider smile that he couldn't see with her back still to his in echo of his verbal response. Well, at least she could rule out him being stupid. Plenty of guys got stupid with even the slightest hint of suggestion from her, but he was right not to believe her. Vesper wouldn't know how to be gentle if she tried.

It was impossible to tell if she was actually pissed or not that he'd noticed the missing piece, only staring at him for a split second before her expression effortlessly morphed into one of a wide eyed innocence that didn't suit her at all. "Oops," she responded with a casual shrug, unzipping the front of her jacket and very deliberately pulling something smaller out of an inside pocket, doing it from an angle that made it difficult to see if it was a pocket or just the inside of her shirt.

Putting the item on the table with the rest, it wasn't a gun or any obvious weapon, but it did something to distort your appearance on facial recognition software. Would have been handy for her to use, but not a total loss. Vesper was already pretty handy with a well placed disguise. "So, new guy's more then just good looks, he's also a detective."

It was actually bugging her, how familiar he looked, and that wasn't a come on. Vesper was good with faces, and handsome features aside, the longer she looked at him the more she felt like she'd definitely seen him somewhere before. More openly curious, Vesper moved over to take hold of the briefcase and open it, eyes never leaving his face even as she started feeling around the stacks of money. "Have we met before? I could swear I've seen you from somewhere." Not here, that she would definitely remember.

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darksadlonely
2020-10-02 01:27 am UTC (link)

Even though it was literally a matter of life and death for him, Aaron still couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that he’d caught her trying to pull a fast one on the Resistance. The old Aaron would’ve let it slide. Even now there was a part of him that wanted to apologize and tell her to forget it, that wanted to believe that she’d pocketed that twelfth item because she needed it. But the new Aaron couldn’t afford to think like that anymore, as Bruce so often reminded him.

All things considered, coming back short after the exchange was a pretty stupid way to die. Whether that was the most likely outcome, he didn't know for sure, but it was better not to make a mistake than to learn that one was all it took for his handlers to decide he wasn’t worth the trouble and to disappear him forever. Or to learn that the only thing worse than Nora never knowing what happened to him was the Resistance punishing her for his mistake. He couldn’t put either option past them, and both were unacceptable, which left only one alternative.

Aaron couldn’t make a mistake. Ever.

That was easier said than done. Particularly when a potential mistake sprang from someone else screwing him over. He couldn’t exactly give this woman – this thief – the benefit of the doubt now that it was abundantly clear that she was counting on him not noticing the missing weapon. Maybe she did need it, but she also didn’t care what happened to him when he turned the package over without it. And Bruce had figured that out just by looking at her. Some detective Aaron was.

“... What?” His head snapped up when that very same word came out of her mouth. Detective. He felt a rising panic in his throat – did everyone in the Resistance’s radar know who he was? – but swallowed it down when she moved on to counting the money in the briefcase. Or it seemed like she was moving on, anyway. She was still watching him, a little too close for comfort. No, a lot too close.

“No, I’m just – ” Aaron started then abruptly cut himself off with a sharp exhale, as if that would help him gather his flustered thoughts. The low and constant impression of warning coming from Bruce wasn’t exactly helping him keep it together. After a moment, though, he recovered enough to say something that wasn't a lie, but at least was vague enough to keep him from revealing things he didn't want the whole world to know. “You don’t have to be a detective to know how to count.”

Though it was out of character for him, he somehow managed to look her directly in the eyes. Hers were a dark brown, with a warmth that didn’t seem to match the heartlessness she was putting fully on display. Or maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see. “No. I think I’d remember if we met before.”

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darkerthanyours
2020-10-04 07:47 am UTC (link)

Okay, so 'detective' was apparently some sort of trigger word for the rookie. Vesper had to wonder just what the Resistance's angle was for sending him to meet her for the exchange. It would be easy to brush it off as just them being assholes, which they were, or maybe they just really didn't view her as a threat so why not send the most incompetent person to deal with her? Somehow the latter seemed even less likely. They were a group of crazy people, but they weren't that careless.

So what was it? His behavior and his strange familiarity to her was going to bother Vesper until she figured it out. And she always figured it out. Vesper was just sneaky like that. The guy seemed so perpetually on edge though that honestly, she almost felt a little bad for him. Almost. And not that she'd ever admit it either way, even if threatened at gun point. Not her style, and that was kind of the problem.

If she were somebody else, she might know what to do or say to put him out of his misery, that is if she wanted to. Even Selina was better at that then she was, or at least, she had been when it came to one person in particular. Whatever, being a comfort to someone didn't come naturally to her, even if this had been the type of situation where that would have been appropriate. She wasn't an orphan like Selina but she didn't exactly come from a family that encouraged affection. She wasn't Alfred, so offering the poor guy a cup of tea to soothe his nerves was out of the question and that made her feel inadequate in ways she didn't like.

Vesper didn't know precisely why her emotional shortcomings were suddenly some kind of an issue, but maybe it had something to do with the way he unexpectedly caught her gaze and then held it. It only threw her for a second, but a second was long enough. At first Vesper thought they were blue, but after a moment they seemed more green to her than anything else, his eyes boring into hers like he was looking for someone else. While some heavy eye contact wasn't normally a challenge for her, that was more than enough to make Vesper fight the impulse to look away.

The moment passed, and Vesper's mask slipped back into place as her momentary surprise was replaced by an easy smile. "Bet you say that to all the girls." Except she didn't, because she wasn't sure he was capable of a cheesy, disingenuous pick-up line to save his life.

Why did he seem so damn familiar to her? There had to be a reason beyond 'extremely handsome face', as much as that was still unfortunately true. Vesper was just starting to get frustrated with the mystery when it clicked, and Vesper's hands stilled with a stack of cash in between them. He was the missing brother, the one from the picture that girl had flashed at Vesper just the other day. "Hold on - you're that guy in all the fliers. The one who's missing." Vesper's eyes narrowed. "... Except you don't exactly seem like you're missing, so what gives?"

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darksadlonely
2020-10-05 05:08 am UTC (link)

“... Fliers?” Aaron frowned, immediately more unnerved by her sudden recognition of him from somewhere than he was confused by what she was saying. Given the media spotlight on his family’s tragedy earlier in the year, the idea of a perfect stranger knowing his identity (actual identity, not secret) wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility, but apparently that wasn’t how she knew him. So how did she figure out who he was?

“What are you talking ab– ”

And then it hit him. Nora. She was looking for him.

Aaron closed his eyes and covered the lower half of his face with his hand. Of course she was looking for him. If their roles were reversed, if Nora was the one who dropped off the face of the planet in the middle of searching for answers about what happened to their parents, nothing in the world could have prevented him from spending his every waking moment trying to find her. The part of him that already knew Nora was doing what she always did – looking out for him, when he needed her the most – had buried that knowledge rather than face it. Sometimes the twin thing hurt more than it helped. Throughout this entire ordeal, he’d never really stopped thinking of Nora, of doing whatever he had to do to keep the Resistance away from her, but he always stopped short at contemplating whatever she was going through. What she might do to find him. Because the answer… well, it wasn’t good.

Nora was a force to be reckoned with in a lot of ways, some of them not exactly the healthiest. When she really focused on something, relentless hardly covered it. She was unstoppable, to the point where logic and self-preservation went right out the window. She’d hurt herself, one way or another, if she kept looking for him. It was inevitable, and Aaron knew it.

And worse, if she’d already gotten far enough in her search that the woman standing across from him – a woman who was only one step removed from Resistance proper – knew someone was looking for him, then it wouldn’t be long before the Resistance got wind of it, too. Everything Aaron was doing to keep his sister out of their pull would be for nothing, and they’d both end up dead. All the Tafts would be gone.

The thought was like a gut punch, and suddenly Aaron wanted nothing more than to call his sister, to figure out some way to tell her to stop looking for him, but he knew it was impossible. If he tried, it would almost certainly get back to his handlers, who had an disquieting habit of recounting his day to him even when he spent most of his days alone. He couldn't even eat a taco without them knowing about it.

But even if he could get word to Nora, it wouldn't matter. He knew his sister, his twin. She'd never stop until she found him.

Aaron’s hand fell away from his face, and it took another moment for him to open his eyes and look back at the thief. He felt hollowed out, empty, less than half of who he was supposed to be without Nora next to him to fill up the parts of him that were truly missing. The temptation to ask the woman if she’d seen Nora, if she could tell him anything about her at all, was overwhelming. But he bit it down. It was a weakness he couldn’t afford to show.

“It’s complicated.” His voice was soft and resigned. Almost hopeless. He gestured vaguely at the money she was counting. “Got everything you need?”

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darkerthanyours
2020-10-09 05:47 am UTC (link)

More strange reactions from the good looking stranger standing across from her, but at least this one made a little more sense than the way he'd responded to the word 'detective', like it'd bitten him. She didn't have to know his situation intimately to at least relate on a very basic level; family was complicated. Hell, when it came to her own family in particular, complicated didn't even begin to cut it. Whatever your excuse was for avoiding them, she'd most likely used it at least once.

Then again, most of her family wasn't even half as nice as the girl Vesper met had seemed (nice, albeit a little too intense for a first meeting), but she supposed he must still have a good reason. Or she was just giving him too much credit and he was actually the kind of heartless bastard who would let his sister worry herself sick over him without so much as a note or a phone call. It wasn't often that Vesper was in such an uncharacteristically charitable mood, but there was just something about his sad, droopy demeanor that made her almost feel bad for the guy.

Vesper had run into her as the girl was passing through Pittsburgh, handing out fliers outside of a coffee shop and asking anyone who would stop to talk to her if they'd seen the man in the photo. His photo. Now, Vesper wasn't exactly what you'd call a bleeding heart, but she wasn't heartless either. And for the same reasons she almost felt bad for this guy, the girl's miserable demeanor and wide eyed desperation had left an impression. Actually, it was a look eerily similar to his. Had the girl said they were twins? Now Vesper thought she might have.

Not being very close with anyone in her family save for maybe one sibling that she could stand being in the company of, Vesper couldn't really relate to what she was going through. But if she'd had a twin (provided they weren't as annoying as her sister), Vesper thought she'd feel the same way she did. It's why she'd gone against her better judgement and let the girl talk her ear off, even thought it wouldn't have made a difference. Vesper hadn't seen him. Weird how circumstances could change in the blink of an eye. She hadn't gotten the girl's number, but Vesper had referred her to a private investigator she knew in Chicago. If anyone could find her brother, Vesper reasoned, he could. Funny that she still ended up finding him first. Life sure comes at you fast.

"Hey man, no judgement," Vesper responded with a casual shrug, hands full of cash held out like a surrender (yeah, right). "If you wanna stay gone that's none of my business, but someone's looking for you."

She probably shouldn't be pushing it, but Vesper had never known how to not push it. Besides. He'd just gotten even more interesting to her, her own curiosity already peaking. The itch to know what exactly his deal was with the Resistance was already poking at her, but she wouldn't get the chance. For one thing, she wasn't here for that, and she really ought to not linger too long now that she'd made sure all of the money was accounted for. For another, they were about to be joined by one of Vesper's least favorite people, visibly bristling at the sound of Harper Kelly's voice that was like nails on a chalk board to her ears.

"Well, well," the blonde spoke as she slunk into the room, seemingly out of nowhere and looking sharply between Vesper and the man who looked like he wanted to hang himself. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Vesper rolled her eyes so hard she practically sprained something as she fixed Harper with a look of disdain she made no effort to hide. They both knew that Vesper's partnership with Joseph made it pretty hard to justify doing anything to her, not without good reason, and Vesper did like to flaunt that. "You need to get some new material, that one's so old my grandmother's still using it."

Harper stuck her tongue out at Vesper and then turned her full attention to Aaron. "How did it go? Everything accounted for, I hope?" But Vesper cut in before he could, putting the last stacks of cash back inside the briefcase, shutting it and pulling it closer to her out of habit, just in case either of them tried to do anything funny. "We're all good here. Right, new guy?" Hey, she wouldn't rat him out if he didn't rat her out.

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darksadlonely
2020-10-10 10:24 pm UTC (link)

Aaron almost laughed when the thief confirmed his suspicions. What a small, stupid world this was. “If I had a choice, I never would’ve been gone in the first – ”

Maybe it was a good thing that was the moment Harper Kelly decided to check up on them. Aaron got along too easily with people, including people he was better off not talking to at all. How many times had he told the wrong person all about his life, from back when he was kid to only a few short months ago when a reporter pretended to befriend him and printed a trashy article that attributed his refusal to believe the official story about his father’s murder to an Oedipal complex? Though he still didn’t know her name and probably never would, he was this close to telling the thief all about Eleanor and why she was looking for him when Harper walked through the door. This close to telling her everything just because he needed to talk to somebody, and right now she was the closest thing to the person he wanted to talk to more than anyone else.

Leave it to Harley Quinn to save him from making that mistake again.

At the sound of her voice, Aaron visibly stiffened, then stuffed his hands back into his pockets. His shoulders fell back into a hunch he could never totally get rid of, because he spent all of his life overly conscious of his tall frame and therefore unconsciously tried to minimize it when he was the most uncomfortable. Being around Harper certainly qualified, but caution outweighed discomfort with her. He knew he wasn’t intimidating like Bruce – like Batman – and it wouldn’t matter even if he was. Harper held all the power in this relationship, and Aaron had no way to challenge that. Not if he wanted to stay alive.

He glanced between the women, a small crease forming between his brows at Harper’s pointed barb and the thief’s cool rebuttal. They knew each other, that much was obvious, but he felt like he was missing something. Something really obvious.

Something Bruce had already figured out, judging by the cold sweat that was breaking out all over his body.

Before he could figure it out or ask Bruce to maybe share whatever it was that was bothering him so much, the thief caught him in a trap. A small one, sure, but the kind that felt like no matter how he answered Harper’s question – if he agreed with the thief that everything had gone smoothly, or if he told his handler she’d tried to stiff them – he’d be the one to pay for it. At the same time, though, it wasn’t much of a choice at all. Not for him, anyway. Even if the Resistance had been spying on them somehow, there was only one right thing to do.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, we’re all good.” Aaron kept his face perfectly neutral while he answered. He wasn’t the best liar, but this wasn’t so different from what he and Nora used to do with their parents, working together to keep both of them out of trouble when one of them had done something wrong. “Everything’s here, so I think we’re good to go.”

He stepped up to the table and started putting the weapons in the bag unasked, maybe a little too eager to get this over with. The move brought him closer to the thief, and he couldn’t help but glance at her again, still trying to solve a puzzle that was missing most of the pieces. “That cat thing,” he said to her finally, aware that Harper would hear but not really caring. “Was that just a bad burglar joke?”

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darkerthanyours
2020-10-12 01:45 am UTC (link)

Harper may have interrupted them just when things were potentially starting to get really interesting, but she hadn't interrupted them soon enough for Vesper not to be able to guess what the rest of his sentence was before he cut himself off. 'If I had a choice, I never would’ve been gone in the first place'. Now, that was interesting. Immediately, Vesper's view of the situation changed, the wheels already turning in her head as she watched his body language with keen eyes.

Not that he had been the picture of relaxed with Vesper, but he had noticeably stiffened when Harper had first entered the room. Fine, that could just be because he, like Vesper, was not a Harley Quinn fan. Kind of easy not to be, considering how grating she was on the nerves. Harper might not be as loud about it, but she could still be pretty damn annoying without even trying. Like just being in the same room as you, for example. If it weren't for the fact that it would make Joseph's job harder, Vesper would be tempted to get a lot nastier with the clown.

So, this guy either just didn't like Harper and therefore at least exhibited some good taste in other people. Or, it was something else. Blackmail maybe? He was definitely new to the Resistance either way, but maybe she'd misjudged him before, passing him off as just another incompetent recruit. The only reason she thought that was because, for one thing, missing people didn't usually turn up in the Resistance. Or rather, people who ran with the Resistance didn't usually have people on the outside who cared enough to try and find them. The other reason was that this was the first time Vesper had actually seen Harper Kelly deign to show up for a hand off. Almost like she was checking up on someone, and as much as they disliked each other, Vesper doubted it was her.

Vesper couldn't tell what might be so special about this guy that the Resistance would go to that kind of trouble, but it also wouldn't be the first time she'd heard of somebody getting conned into their ranks. Poor guy. No wonder he seemed a little too earnest for the Resistance. If that's what was actually happening, but either way, her curiosity was peaked enough that Vesper was suddenly dying to find out.

Pleased that he'd gone along with her lie (and once again just proving her suspicions that he was something other than the Resistance's usual brand of sociopathic recruits), Vesper was mildly surprised when he actually asked her a question. Arching an eyebrow, Vesper leaned across the table closer to him, one hand still on the briefcase and dark eyes glittering with a hint of mischief to them. "Why do you wanna know? Got a thing for cats? Or is it burglars?"

He hadn't ratted her out for trying to steal from them so clearly being a thief didn't bother him too much, but Vesper obviously wasn't going to come right out and tell the truth about the pointed barb. If he didn't already know who she was, that probably made him the last person in the Resistance to know about Selina Kyle, and that was just fine with her. Like Selina, Vesper tended to make enemies a little too quickly around here. Unfortunately, Harper wasn't as interested in playing games.

"Don't you and Ms. Kyle have a litter box to get back to?" The blonde sneered, hanging back from the pair until then but now she came around to one side of Aaron and drooped an arm through his with the express purpose of trying to make him as uncomfortable in this situation as possible.

"Don't you have a padded room to get back to," Vesper shot back, annoyed as the coy smile edging across her lips all but disappeared from her face. Harper turned to whisper to Aaron, loudly enough for Vesper to hear. "Better check your pockets before you leave, that one has slippery fingers." Arm absently slipping away from his, Harper took hold of one of the guns still left on the table and inspected it more closely. "And fleas."

At that Vesper looked almost murderous, her own body language tense like she might be deciding whether or not it'd be worth it to actually pick a fight. "You want to say that a little louder?"

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darksadlonely
2020-10-14 03:38 pm UTC (link)

A real smile nearly broke through Aaron’s carefully neutral expression, drawn out by the thief’s conspiratorial eyes. Surprising, given the circumstances, but there was just something about her. Something that, despite not knowing anything about her except her occupation (which triggered alarm bells in even Aaron’s own notoriously terrible judgment of character), piqued his curiosity. Made him want to know more.

She was… alluring, this thief. In a way that felt strangely familiar, though he couldn’t figure out why. But it was also a little hopeless, thinking that he would before they went their separate ways. After this brief encounter, he doubted he’d ever see her again. She would always be an unanswered question from a time he’d just as soon forget.

Or so he thought.

Before he could respond, an uninvited arm slipped through his, freezing him in place. He hated when Harper did this, especially in front of other people. Like she owned him or something. That wasn’t too far from the mark, but it still made him uncomfortable – and, this time, a little confused. Why was she staking her claim now, when they were almost done? Was it just because he’d expressed too much interest in the thief? That hardly made sense. It was just a question, after all, and an innocent one at that.

He was so preoccupied with the dual puzzle of trying to understand Harper while simultaneously searching for a way to pull himself away from her that wouldn’t play into her games that he almost missed the answer as she laid it out right in front of him. He heard the words, but for a moment they didn’t register. Ms. Kyle. Litter box.

And then, very suddenly, they did.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his only visible reaction. Not for the first time, he was grateful that he was the reserved twin and not the reactive one like Nora; that was probably the only thing that saved his skin. His mind raced and his pulse spiked, but otherwise he kept his face blank, passively watching the spat unfold before him, doing nothing to draw their notice.

Selina. She was Selina.

Bruce’s Selina.

It all made sense now, as difficult as it was to wrap his head around. The thief’s behavior as much as Harper’s – and the whole reason why Harper had sent him in here alone in the first place. Well above his handler’s head and therefore out of sight, he narrowed his eyes at her, just for a split second, judging her anew. This had been a test, but not the kind he thought it was. All this, arranged just for him.

He set his mouth in a firm line and took a step forward, slightly in front of Harper. “Maybe another time?” His voice was colder now, flatter, but as much as he wanted to look away, he couldn’t keep his eyes from going back to the thief. “I think we’ve all got what we want.”

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darkerthanyours
2020-10-17 08:28 pm UTC (link)

Despite the daggers she was currently shooting at the mouthy blonde from her side of the table, Vesper hadn't been planning on throwing down with Harper. That was sort of the point though, you never really planned on those things happening, sometimes they just... happened. It would still be pretty stupid of her to pick a fight while firmly on Resistance turf, especially when she didn't have a clear exit other than the one behind Harper and the good looking, extremely tall man whose name she still didn't know.

Wouldn't be the first time she and Selina found themselves in a tight spot, and they'd both faced less encouraging odds. Vesper was pretty confident she could take Harper in a fight if she had to, but he was still something of a wild card to her. Within the span of a few minutes since they'd first met, he'd done something few others were able to do.

He'd surprised her.

On the surface he might seem like just another incompetent knuckle dragger in the Resistance's underwhelming ranks, but this guy had hidden depths. Maybe even secrets? Naturally, that thought only intrigued her more. Vesper wasn't often interested in other people's stories, but damn if she didn't want his. Who knew what sort of tricks he was actually hiding up those sleeves, and while there was a significant part of her that was actually dying to find out, she wasn't really into having an audience for it. Shame. They'd have to go for a tumble another time.

Of course it hadn't escaped her noticed just how tall he was in comparison, but the way he used his full height in that moment to take a step firmly into the space between her and Harper, that was... well, it was something. Having been seconds away from making a sincere attempt to scratch the other woman's eyes out, his unexpected show of masculinity strangely had the opposite affect on Vesper, posture uncurling instead of tensing as she gave him a very sincere once over.

Normally, she would have been tempted to push the envelope, goad him into a bigger reaction or get as close as possible in order to sufficiently distract him until she could make a break for it. Neither option was that appealing with a third party. As if the reincarnate of Harley Quinn could sense Vesper's annoyance, the blonde fixed Vesper with a smug look from behind the looming figure between them that still held most of Vesper's attention.

His eyes were on her and her eyes were on him. Such a minor thing, but Vesper didn't miss the way he couldn't seem to not look at her despite the sudden coldness in his tone. Not really a deterrent for her in most circumstances, but now it peeked Vesper's already practically insatiable curiosity. Secrets? Oh, she bet he had at least a couple good ones, and while Harper's irritating presence was preventing Vesper for getting into the juicy details right now, she had half a mind to circle back to this later. It'd been awhile since Vesper had tailed anyone, but you know what they said, it's like riding a bike. Or something.

"Well aren't you just a tall drink of water," Vesper remarked appreciatively while she made sure the briefcase in her hands was actually sealed before taking it by the handle and letting it hang at her side as she came around the table. Closer to him, though she barely spared Harper another glance as she looked up at the man intently. She was half tempted to make a move in Harper's direction just to see what he would do, but reason won out, or rather her instincts of self-preservation kicked in. She really didn't want to stick around for those guns to be loaded with the pointed glares Harper was sending her way.

After a thoughtful pause, Vesper shrugged. "I got what I want. For now." Turning away from him with a small smirk, she made a mental note to see which way he and Harper left once she'd cleared the building's perimeter. The way Harper behaved with him, it was pretty clear to Vesper that of the two, she was in charge. And if Harley Quinn was in charge of someone? Vesper definitely wanted his side of the story. But that meant doing a little recon first. "See you later, handsome," Vesper offered one last parting line as she took her exit, briefcase full of money tight in her grasp. Once she'd gotten the money back safely, then they could play.

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darksadlonely
2020-10-22 02:02 am UTC (link)

Aaron let go of a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when the thief miraculously backed down. Even with this brand new information about her and all the implications it contained rattling around his brain, he wasn’t entirely sure putting himself between the two women would work. Both Harley Quinn and Catwoman were notorious in their own ways for their distinct disrespect of authority. Specifically, Batman’s authority. Harper knew about him but was playing other games. If the thief had known, would she have pushed it? Escalated the situation, just to see what he would do?

Probably. Bruce had figured her out almost as soon as she saw her, and there wasn’t just one good reason why he wanted Aaron to keep his secrets, there were several. Selina Kyle was dangerous – in general, yes, but especially for Bruce Wayne. No one challenged him like she did. No one frustrated him and outsmarted him and pulled him in so completely. No one was more different, or more the same.

It was tempting to call them equals, the Bat and the Cat, but Bruce knew better. Selina was better than him – better than him at almost everything, up to and including navigating Gotham’s shady underworld and almost always coming out on top. Aaron couldn't even hope to compare, but on her end, not much seemed to have changed in that regard. Clearly.

Amongst all the warring emotions rushing through Aaron (which, somehow, he continued to keep under wraps) was an unexpected one. A kind of gladness that she was still so capable, a survivor, someone who knew when it was time to make a point and when to leave it alone. It was good to know that she wasn’t as bad off as him, the only good thing he’d found out this whole terrible year. And the strangest part – he wasn’t sure whether this feeling was coming from him or from Bruce.

That was happening more and more often, this blending, despite neither side really wanting it. With no one to talk to about it, he had no idea if it was normal, but either way, it was unnerving every time it happened, because every time it took longer for him to notice. Even longer now, as distracted as he was watching the thief size him up and prepare her exit. Good. Better this way. Both he and Bruce wanted her out of this room, that much they could agree on. It was just their reasons for wanting her to leave before anything else could happen that were vastly different.

For Aaron, it came down to safety. Both hers and his. The sooner she left, the safer they'd both be from Harper trying to escalate the game if she got too bored with them. Ending this handoff quickly was the best outcome for all of them. He knew that, logically, but he also couldn't help thinking: this could be the last time I see her. The only time. And that was oddly disappointing.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever see her again. If he’d passed the little test the Resistance was giving him, throwing someone Bruce loved in his path just to see if their hold on him was as tight as they thought. Thinking it was better not to risk looking at Harper to find out, Aaron instead directed his attention to the weapons on the table, beginning to very carefully pack them just as the thief passed him and threw him a goodbye that felt a little bit like a threat.

Or maybe... maybe a promise.

Aaron knew it was a risk, but he did it anyway. Hunched over the bag, he glanced back at her in the doorway and offered his own goodbye in return, as much with his eyes as with his words. “Some other time, Cat.”

She’d know. She’d have to know. She’d find him again, and then…

Well. Then, at least, he wouldn’t be alone.

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