Agent Washington (completelysane) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-07-18 19:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, agent washington, yue katou |
Who: Hyde and Angel Boy
What: Reconn and setting the stage for a raid
When: Early June
Where: Hotel in Las Vegas
Rating/Warnings: Surprisingly low for these two
Status: Complete!
It had been over a year…probably closer to two…since Wash had been on any kind of mission. It surprised him how good it felt to be working again. It may not have been for the military and, let’s face it – this was illegal as hell, but there was just something about the feeling one got from sneaking around behind enemy lines that you couldn’t get anywhere else.
He had Katou with him and Wash felt better about this entire situation knowing that he had his back. He could more fully concentrate on the mission objective: gather intelligence and procure an access point into the building for a strike.
It was coming up on 20:00 hours and the hotel was abuzz with all kinds of activity, mostly from guests coming back from casinos on the strip and getting ready to go out and catch one of Las Vegas many dazzling shows. No one was paying the two young men much attention, which was good. Wash had attempted to blend in, clad in a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. He had traded his signature boots for a pair of sneakers and his feet – as they usually did in other sorts of footwear – felt bare and vulnerable.
He held a hand to his ear, clicking on the small little communications device that let him and Katou talk with Carolina and Kanan back at “base”.
“We’re in the lobby,” he reported in an undertone. “moving to gain access to the back.” With his report in he turned to Katou with a smirk – god he was in his element doing this shit. “Alright, Angel, you’re on. We need to get into the back service area.”
There was a nervous excitement to Katou, an energy that practically left him vibrating. Not since his dreams had Katou been involved in something like this, and now that he was doing it here, he was realizing that it was something he needed. Something he craved.
Of course, in his dreams, no one had trusted him much with the stealth missions. Maybe he could change his face, but changing his attitude was a good deal more difficult. Hell, even when they’d broken into Heaven’s prison to set Zaphikel free, Katou had waited outside while Kira and Setsuna disguised themselves to get in.
He swallowed, trying to imagine he was swallowing his nerves as well as the build-up of saliva. Before Wash’s eyes, Katou transformed. His hair became darker and shorter, his build a little stockier, his eyes bluer. He had to picture every hair, every fingernail, and he had to hold it in his head, but at this point that was a second nature. Specifically, holding his own face in his mind at all times was second nature, but it was only a little extra work to take on the face of someone else. Then he shot Wash a very Katou-like grin. “So, whatdya think?” Katou asked. “Think we’ll fool ‘em?”
The way Katou changed from Katou to someone else sort of reminded Wash how Carolina’s armor would change to match an enemy soldier’s, or to blend into the scenery around them. The chameleon ability only changed the armor’s color, though, not the armor itself. He had seen Carolina do it hundreds of times in the Dreams, but he’d never seen Katou physically change his appearance, his body to look like someone else. He tried not to react in any way that would draw attention to them. He glanced around to be sure no one else had seen the kid change. Nope. Everyone else in the lobby was preoccupied with their own various businesses, whatever they may have been.
He looked back at Katou, that grin having grown considerably. “We’re good,” he said. He nodded his head towards the back of the lobby where a door marked “employees only” was waiting for them. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Katou cleared his throat and fought to wipe the smirk from his face. He tilted his head to either side to crack his neck, took a deep breath, and was all business. “Alright,” Katou said, swallowing heavily. He was the only person who could do this job, he knew. He couldn’t let everyone down.
He’d studied the blueprints that Dutch had managed to get for them. The layout of the hotel, their destination. The tricky part was just not getting stopped before he got there. On the bright side, he was well skilled in acting like he belonged in a place even when he’d never been there before. He had to bite back randomly talking to his ‘coworkers,’ especially when he gave he and Wash curious glances. Nothing would blow his cover faster than actually talking to someone this dude knew.
Wash let Katou lead the way through the hotel, following close behind. Like Katou, Wash was well practised at appearing as though he belonged in a place. Katou looked like an employee and Wash could pass for one of the owner’s “special employees”. At least that was the cover story should the two of them get stopped between here and their destination. With any luck, Wash wouldn’t have to use the cover story Kanan had drilled into his head on the way up from California.
Another skill working spec ops for the marines had given Wash was heightened situational awareness. He was observing everything could about what was going on around them. He was able to distinguish tourists from those who were there for other types of business. The regular employees all seemed average. None of them were carrying, open or otherwise, which Wash noted as being both a blessing and a curse. They wouldn’t be a threat in an attack, but these employees were liabilities, easily used as hostages or meat shields should a firefight break out. A late night raid would definitely be in their best interest when more of a skeleton crew was about. The less collateral damage, the better.
The staff aside, Wash was noting others lurking about the lobby that were neither tourists or businessmen. Wash couldn’t tell if they were other smugglers like Kanan, or the Old Man’s muscle. There weren’t very many of them, at least not on this floor. Wash counted five men eyeing him and Katou as they made their way across the lobby.
“Five potential bogies,” Wash said in an undertone to Katou in front of him. “Twelve, two, six and nine o’clock. They’ve noticed us, but as of now they don’t seem all that interested in what we’re doing. That disguise of yours seems to be working like a charm, Angel.” Hey, what do you know, a nickname and a code name all wrapped into one. “Keep your eyes up for any others giving us any extra attention.”
Katou didn’t take a glance at the guy at their six - there was just no way to do that without raising suspicion, but his eyes did very briefly, unnoticably flick to the other guys Wash had mentioned, making note of where they were and what they looked like. There was a chance that Katou’d have to ditch his disguise for a different one, and he wanted to make sure it was someone who potentially mattered.
He wasn’t nearly as skilled at picking them out as Wash was though. Maybe the guy at his twelve he would have made on his own, but not the others and he was beyond thankful that Wash was with him. He could sense auras before he turned a corner, but all that told him was numbers. By the time someone’s aura would tip him off to anything, they’d already be moving in for the kill.
Katou knew that there were people in the hall before he turned into it, but he hadn’t expected one of those people to look him right in the face. “Mark!” the guy said. It would have taken Katou a little longer to remember that’s who he was if the guy wasn’t staring right at him. Which also meant that Katou couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear him.
“Uh, s’up man? I’m in a bit of a hurry if you-”
“Yeah, yeah, this’ll just take a minute. I just need you to sign off on this catering order for the Murray reception.”
Keeping the mild panic off his face wasn’t that difficult, but Katou realized that he didn’t even know Mark’s last name, let alone what his signature of all things looked like.
Well. Crap. Wash knew better than to think that the two of them would be able to complete their mission without getting stopped at least once. Didn’t mean that he hadn’t hoped for clear sailing. Just like the old saying: no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Ordinarily, Wash would have stayed back and let his partner handle the situation, but as far as he knew, Katou wasn’t experienced at infiltration and Wash wasn’t about to let his buddy flounder.
He cleared his throat forcefully. “Hey,” he snapped in his low register and gruffest voice. “We’re kinda on a timetable here and your fuckin’ it up.”
The guy jerked his attention in Wash’s direction, as if seeing him for the first time. Wash watched the expression on the guy’s face move from insult, to confusion, to realization. Yeah that’s right, buddy, Wash thought to himself, I’m one of the Big Boys.
“Oh, uh...uh…” The guy looked between Katou and back to Wash. “uh...it’ll just take a minute.”
“Don’t got a minute.” Wash said impatiently. “I’m already late. You wanna explain to the boss why this meetin’ ain’t startin’ on time?”
“But the reception-”
“You got other managers here, don’tcha?” Wash demanded.
“Well, yeah, but-”
This was taking too long and Wash was getting anxious. One of those boogies he’d spotted earlier was paying them a bit too much attention now. The sooner they got this guy off their back and they got out of sight the better. “Christ on a cracker, he’ll be back in like five minutes. The world won’t end in that time. Unless, y’know, you make us later than we already are.”
Katou was becoming aware that in the time he and Wash argued that it took too long to sign the paper, he could have signed the damn thing and been on his way. Why the fuck hadn’t he studied up on this Mark character earlier? Katou was a little comforted that people tended to complain that they had no time longer than the task that they were asked to do all the time. Still, hanging around here was a bad move.
“Listen,” slight eyeflick to the name tag, “John, you know how the boss hates being kept waiting. Why don’t you just sign for me, eh? You know what my signature looks like,” Katou said, giving the guy a friendly clap on the shoulder before moving passed him, not giving John a chance to protest. Evidently he was through with protesting, because he didn’t say anything to Katou’s retreating back.
“Shit dude, I thought we were toast,” Katou muttered quietly.
They really should have had a little more intel about the employees of this place, but this wasn’t the first time Wash had been on a mission with little to no information to go on. All things considered, this was just a minor hic-up, nothing to be too concerned about. A quick glance over his shoulder told Wash that while John was annoyed that “Mark” hadn’t signed off on anything, he wasn’t rushing off to raise any alarms. Good. Even better was that none of who Wash was starting to think of as the Goon Squad had made them. That bieng said, Wash was hoping for no more unwanted attention from anyone else.
“Even the most well thought out plans can go south once you’re behind enemy lines,” Wash told his partner quietly. “You did good. As soon as we get into the back halls, you’ll need to drop the Mark disguise and choose someone else. We don’t need anyone to come looking for us to sign off on anything else.”
Katou tried not to look too pleased when Wash told him that he’d done good. He’d been worried that he’d blown it, but Wash didn’t seem too worried about it. “Got it,” Katou said, turning the corner and transforming into a petite, brunette girl he’d seen in the lobby. She seemed unobtrusive enough to not get randomly stopped. “Where to now, Hyde?” Katou said.
There was no sense in worrying unnecessarily. The two of them were behind enemy lines, but the enemy had no idea they were there. They may have been expecting some kind of retaliation for the attempt on Kanan’s life, but enough time had passed now that it was clear, at least to Wash, that some security had become a little lax. Or maybe the Old Man had just assumed Kanan hadn’t had the balls to actually attempt anything. From what Wash had heard, the guy certainly seemed arrogant enough to make such a stupid assumption.
All things considered, they weren’t doing too badly. Wash could easily think of a reason for the brown-haired girl to be back there with him should they run into anymore staff. At least no one would be looking for her to sign off on anything. Wash raised a hand to his ear, once again clicking on the communication device. “We’re in the back access hall,” he reported back to Carolina and Kanan.
“Good,” Kanan’s voice came through the earpiece. “According to Dutch’s blueprints, there should be an emergency exit at the west end of the hall. Head that way and deactivate the alarm attached to the door. That’ll be our entrance point tonight.”
“Roger,” Wash said and lowered his head. He gestured up the hall. “There’s an emergency exit up this way,” he said to Katou. “Keep your eyes out for any cameras we may need to disable along the way.”
“What, we don’t got one of them fancy disabling-electronics device thingies? The hell kinda covert spy operation is this?” Katou teased. He wasn’t sure if EMPs - not that he knew their name - were real or just something that people used a lot in fiction, but he figured that that little detail didn’t matter much in the OC.
The nice thing about being a shapeshifter was that Katou didn’t have to worry about being seen on camera, so he kept his head up, glancing at the ceiling for anything that might be camera like. “I brought me some spray paint. I can double back with a different face while you deal with the door and black ‘em out, if that works for you.” As far as he remembered - not that his memory counted for much - this hall was the only way to get to the door, so so long as he didn’t leave the hall he didn’t have to worry about not keeping watch.
Ironically enough, Katou was walking right next to a man who had easy accss to an EMP. Wash’s armor had come with its own specific special ability, an ability he’d accidentally set off when he’d first gotten it from the Dreams, and had managed to fry not only every piece of electronic equipment he owned, but every piece of electronic equipment on the floor of his apartment building. It had been an interesting three days.
Wash didn’t have his armor with him at that moment, however. He had brought it, packed up along with Carolina’s in the back of Kanan’s car, covered by a couple of blankets to hide from curious lookey-lus. If the situation called for it later, Wash was more than capable. In the meantime, he and Katou had other means of disabling any cameras they came across, should they need to.
“We won’t need to disable them now,” Wash said. “Anyone looking now will assume we’re lost. It’ll be later tonight that they may be a problem, so we’ll need to know where they are.” He shot a grin over at Katou, “if that happens, I can show off what my armor can do. I think you’ll like it.”
They were approaching the fire exit. It seemed as though the Old Man wasn’t big on spending money, as this end of the hall was mostly dark and serviced by one overhead light. The door itself wasn’t eactly demarked as an emergency exit except for a sign on the door that read “Emergency Exit. Open Door to Sound Alarm.”
“Ahh, here we are,” Wash breathed a sigh of relief. He set his bag down and got out his kit and set to work disabling the alarm itself.
“Sounds kinky,” Katou grinned. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed across his chest and right foot up against the wall. He was pretty sure he was out of view of any of the cameras. While he was keeping watch, he didn’t have to pay much attention to where people might come through. Sensing auras was handy like that. Instead, his eyes roved over the ceiling and walls, looking for any obvious and less-than-obvious cameras and making a mental note of them all. “You think they’d notice if I smoked back here?” Katou asked.
“If there’s anyone wandering around back here, they’ll smell it,” Wash answered as he worked. He was working as quickly as he could. The sooner they could get out of here the better. “Whether or not anyone would care is anyone’s guess. We don’t know if employees like to come back here and sneak a smoke, however, judging by how clear the air is I doubt it.” Wash glanced upwards for a moment. He didn’t see any vents above them, and the door was still wired for sound so chances are if anyone attempted to step through this door outside to smoke would have set the alarm off. Well, Wash would gladly remove that barrier for them.
“You could always light up and see if anyone comes wandering along to investigate,” Wash teased. “But, if you think you can wait for another...ten minutes or so, we’ll be back outside and you can fill your lungs with as much smoke as you want.”
Katou sighed. Given the fact that he could rarely smell it, he kind of forgot that cigarette smoke was pretty pungent to non-smokers. “Eh, I guess the cancer sticks can wait for another ten minutes,” he said with a heavy sigh.
He leaned quietly against the wall for about a minute, before his boredom took over, and he came to hover over Wash’s shoulder to watch him work, sure that if anyone did bother heading this way he’d be able to pick up their aura long before it became an issue.
Wash glanced once over his shoulder at Katou. It wasn’t the first time he worked with an audience. He chuckled and shook his head before returning to work. Just a couple of cuts and a little rewiring to make it look as though nothing had been tampered with and, viola, they had their ingress. “We’re good,” he announced as he stood up again. He grinned over his shoulder at Katou before pushing the door open silently. “After you.”
“Nice,” Katou said when the door swung open and he heard no alarm. He cocked his head to the side to feel for any major changes of mood in the atmosphere, but if there was a silent alarm, the mood shift wasn’t great enough for Katou to pick up on. Then again, he probably wouldn’t have. The only times he could feel moods was when the emotion was nearly overwhelming.
He stepped through the door, blinking a little in the sunlight. “It’s too bad I didn’t have you around back when I was burglarizing people. Probably would’ve saved me a few close calls.”
“I’d have probably turned you in,” Wash answered. He followed Katou out and pulled the door closed behind them. He tested his modifications to the door catch to be sure that it wouldn’t lock them out. “Being a law abiding Marine and all.”
Mission complete. “Let’s head back to base,” Wash said. Base being the dingy motel room they had rented just off the strip. “So what do you think?” He said as the two started walking.
“Aw, c’mon, we’re pals ain’t we? You wouldn’t turn in your favourite delinquent, would you?” He grinned at Wash, perhaps in an attempt to dazzle him with his winning smile but instead looking like he was planning something that someone wouldn’t like but would be hilarious.
He let out a heavy sigh. “I ain’t so sure that this ‘covert’ thing is the thing for me. I kinda just wished we could’ve punched them all out and dealt with it the easy way.”
Wash chuckled faintly as the two of them walked. “You’ll get your chance to punch plenty of people out tonight when we come back,” he said softly. Katou had done well his first time out and Wash was impressed. Things had gone well for them, one minor distraction aside. “What do you think our chances are tonight? Carolina and I will make a path, but it’ll be you and the Jedi who’ll probably end up doing most of the important fighting. You ready for it?” Pause. “Think he’s ready for it?”
“You know I’m ready for it.” Maybe Katou shouldn’t get as much pleasure out of killing people as he did, but he justified it to himself that it wasn’t the act of taking a life that he enjoyed so much as it was the act of protecting someone else. It was the feeling of actually doing something, of being good at something, of having a purpose. He frowned a little at the idea of Kanan being in the fray though. “Don’t know about the boss though. He’s still in pretty rough shape. If I got any say in it, he won’t have to do anything but stand around and look pretty.” Katou paused. “Don’t tell him that though.”
“I won’t,” Wash promised. He understood. If he ever said anything like that to Carolina, she’d kill him. “I agree with you though. Unfortunately, I don’t think either you or I have a say in this. It’s his business and his plan. It won’t bring him any kind of sense of closure or satisfaction if he’s not there to see this all the way through.” Speaking from personal experience here and Wash figured Katou’d had similar experiences as well. “All we can do is watch his back and make sure no one tries to kick the shit out of him again.” Wash eyed Katou sidelong. That job would mostly fall to the Angel, here. This may have been Kanan’s plan, but the former marine understood Katou had just as much at stake.
Phase one of the plan was complete. Now all they had to do was wait until night to start in on phase two, the much more violent and dangerous part of the plan. Hopefully it would go just as well as this part had. Wash could only hope.