005 ◉ audio

[imaginate]

[ Very blankly stated: ]

The Corps is moving its headquarters to WA-1A until further notice. [ a quiet, sharp inhale. It’s taking a lot of will just to remain calm, to say until I disappear too, more like. ] There are currently three active Lanterns in Keeliai and you can contact us there. We’re holding our usual community activities with the locals as per normal, so, if anyone needs a temporary room, or wants to join in, that’s still available.

Please direct your inquiries about the clinic to Mrs. Bianca Reyes.

[ Brief, but highly irritated, tapping on the desk. ]

And if nobody’s heard from them, I guess we have to add Terrence Ward and Rose Tyler to Mr. Wayne’s list.

[ A long pause, and considerably more resigned: ]

Also... after last week, to anyone whose house is now considerably more colourful... I apologise for the graffiti. If you’d prefer it was removed, I’ll do so.


[65% ENCRYPTED | PRIVATE TO: 616 TONY STARK, BACKDOOR FOR DAMIAN WAYNE]

Hi Mr. Sta— Tony. [ Awkward pause. ] Have you got a moment?

Comments

[imaginate]

[Alarm bells...]

[He purses his lips, unsure how to proceed. She was hiding bitterness all along, and for someone like her that usually means whoever it was did something heinous.]

Topic I should avoid?

[Since they'd discussed working through it, but he has no idea how much it affects her; he's only seeing the aftermath.]

[dunhaming]

[ She waves her hand dismissively, letting her smile come back into place and she talks in a light tone. Olivia has good tricks to make herself smile when she needs, brush off what might otherwise upset her. It's doesn't seem forced, carrying off of the upward swing from talking about Walter. ]

There's no need to talk about something like that today, unless you want to. The Secretary has made strides to make up for what he did, but doubt I'll ever really be able to completely forgive him for it. That's really all there is to it.

[ It's hard to forgive someone misguided enough to think that destroying an entire universe would save theirs. ]

[imaginate]

[He's completely fooled.]

People like that happen everywhere.

[He's sticking to weary and generic because he really doesn't want to poke the matter today, well. Not much.]

Boss changed, after that, or no?

[dunhaming]

Oh, no, he's still the Secretary. It's not like people actually know most of what we do. We do it, we fix things, they don't ask questions, and we don't provide answers.

[ She's pretty sure they'll never actually get rid of him. And they can't, he's far too vital to simply remove. ]

[imaginate]

[His hand drops to his leg, just below an old burn Desaad left on his abdomen, and thinks there's no justice in the world.]

In other words, typical government crap.

[It's hard not to think of Major Force right now.]

[dunhaming]

[ She gives a snort at that. ]

Yeah, I guess. But what would we do without him? He started the whole department, he knows what's going on. He's smart, stays involved, and is willing to do what it takes to keep our world safe. Maybe he's a bit misguided sometimes, but my world would have been destroyed long ago if it wasn't for him.

[ There's truth in that. She probably wouldn't be sitting here today if Secretary Bishop hadn't invented Amber, hadn't been hell bent on saving their world. ]

[imaginate]

[Should he argue about this? He and John disagreed over it: about the secrets their own government kept, that they sent people after him, and probably after his father, who'd gotten a burn notice. (or whatever, Kyle didn't even know he could keep the story straight when his father'd spun so many, and his mother had been so tight-lipped about it all.) He had to but he can't bring himself to care very much right now.]

[Offhandedly:] No one's irreplaceable.

[dunhaming]

No, he isn't, but there's no one better than him. So, like him or not, he's what we've got to deal with. Better the devil you know than the one you don't, or something.

[ Oh so many devils there are too. ]

[imaginate]

[That, he identifies with too well, and, casually:]

Train someone better?

[dunhaming]

[ That gets another dismissive handwave. Even if she wanted to get rid of the Secretary, it's not like it would just happen. The government essentially let him do whatever he wanted so long as he was saving their world. ]

It'd take so long he'd be retired by that time anyway. We're talking about well over thirty years of top secret research by possibly the smartest and most visionary scientist of the era. You can't just teach that to someone overnight.

[imaginate]

[Jokingly-]

I know a telepath, he's downloads a few specs into my brain sometimes.

[dunhaming]

[ She slaps the table lightly with both hands and then throws them up. ]

Done. One Secretary of the Department of Defense position sold to the man with an honest to god moral compass who knows a telepath.

[ Seriously, she would probably propose to him on the spot if he managed to pull that off. ]

[imaginate]

[Kyle gives her that I don't know what to say expression, halfway to laughter.]

I'd like to thank the Academy?

[dunhaming]

Don't worry, we like you so much we wouldn't even play the music on your acceptance speech.

[ But look at that almost laughter. She feels so accomplished given how he looked when he first arrived. She's sporting the biggest grin right now. ]

[imaginate]

[He gives her another Look, and then dissolves into helpless laughter.]

I don't know what to do with you, sometimes.

[dunhaming]

[ She does her best to give a sassy smile but just ends up grinning and giving a small laugh. ]

Isn't that the whole point?

[imaginate]

[He ducks his head.]

I guess it is.

[reaching out to squeeze her hand.]

Thanks. You're the best.

[dunhaming]

[ She extends hers and gives his hand a tight squeeze but doesn't let go afterward. He can make that move when he wants. ]

For you, any time. You'd better know it.