tushanshu | 13M03 [AUDIO]

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13M03 [AUDIO]

Anyone have any suggestions for a job around here that might- might pay a little more than the average?

[He's clearly choosing his words carefully, trying to hint at a deeper meaning.]

[95% encrypted to Evandau]
You want to tell me what's going on with your group cloning the foreigners?

[30% encrypted to Ariadne]
I'm sorry about- [...] Look, something came up, alright? I didn't mean to stand you up.

[30% encrypted to Reid]
You said you might be able to help with.. [The 'my meds' is implied as he trails off.] My supply is low.

[30% encrypted to Kyle]
Is there any way to figure out who an anonymous message on the network comes from?

[30% encrypted to Cobb]
Your people made any progress?

[30% encrypted to "Freddie"/Eames]
You busy later?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I have a feeling they might be a professional, if you know what I mean.

Any chance you'd be willing to trace something like that, no questions asked?

Well... [Wait what.] Are you trying to track a superhero?

[A pause for: omg stop using that term, they don't exist.]

I don't think he's a hero.

[A pause this end, but much shorter.] I can try. Do you have something he said or wrote that I can refer to?

Promise me you won't pass this on to anyone without talking to me first.

If people find out, it won't be from me. [Beat.] Pass it to me in person.

Sure. Mind if I swing by now?

I'm at my place.

[He disconnects, and waits near the door for Costigan to show up.]

[Not-so-surprise! Costigan's knocking at your door not long after, Kyle.

The undercover pulls his cap low and stuffs his hands back into his pockets as he glances around, as if he expects someone to jump him in a minute. The paranoia's coming back with the lack of meds.]

[Kyle opens the door and steps outside, closing it behind him. He notices that Costigan seems twitchier than usual.] Let's go on the roof. No eavesdroppers there.

[Costigan's expression tightens just a hint at the suggestion, but he nods and begins moving that way. Meeting an ally in secret on the roof. The scene was all too familiar, and it ended with Queenan landing face first on the asphalt five stories below. At least Kyle was unlikely to endure the same fate.]

[He climbs up first, and surveys the roof, then says to the ring:] Proximity scan.

COMPLETE.

[He nods to Costigan.] We're clear.

[Costigan follows him up onto the roof and raises a skeptical eyebrow at the ring. Yeah, no, he still doesn't buy into your shiny, birthday cake ring. The undercover casts his gaze about for a moment, partially to emphasize how much he doesn't trust the magic and partially because he genuinely wants to make sure they're alone.

After a beat, he lifts his shirt and slides a few pages of paper, folded vertically, from the waistband of his pants. He drops his shirt as he unfolds them and hands them out to Kyle. The pages are simply printed copies of this post and thread.]

You think you could figure anything out from these?

[He crosses his arms tightly; insecurely, unconsciously.]

[He stares at it; his expression changing from puzzled, to amused, and mutters quietly to himself.] Device... how big? Formula.. how much. What does it do... obviously not energy-based. I'd have picked that up.

[He quirks an eyebrow at Costigan.] I feel like I'm in a heist movie.

[Costigan shrugs and cracks half off a smirk.]

Who says we're not?

[Then the humor fades again as he glances around, as if something has changed in their isolated surroundings in the last few seconds. When the Bostonian returns his gaze to the other man, he lifts a hand to point emphatically at the paper.]

Whatever this is, it's important. You know that. Now look, I can work on compiling a list of everyone whose names start with those letters, but there's no guarantee that they chose something so obvious. Professionals like this, it's probably all a code.

[He drops his hands.]

Will you help me?

[He shakes his head staring at the paper.] Jeez. I've been undercover before and I didn't even use something so obvious, [which, given how open his body language is usually, is quite telling how much effort he'd put into it] unless it's all aliases. Even so.

[He raises both eyebrows at the question.] I'm helping you now, aren't I?

[Costigan has to consciously control his movements to avoid reactions to the words, but he allows himself a delayed response, looking from the paper up to meet Kyle's gaze as he talks about aliases. When he speaks, his voice is intentionally accusative, sounding both surprised and suspicious.]

You were an undercover?

[Costigan shifts awkwardly at Kyle's question, building on what he's already said.]

How do I know you're not going to rat me out?

Hm? [Kyle looks at him curiously.] I go where I'm needed. There are mobs in outer space, you know. [His mouth becomes a thin line. Amon Sur was dead and the Black Circle... dead with him.

At the next question, he seems distant, remembering Major Force's smile as he'd been made to give up his ring. Kyle states it flatly, like it's a fact of the universe just like gravity.] I don't generally enjoy secrecy, but I understand why you'd prefer it. There are sup[erheroes; fine, he'll use the other word:] vigilantes from my world here who are pretty good at hacking messages on the network or following me without being detected immediately.

[He sighs, heavily.] My room is probably bugged, but I can't be bothered to remove it because it'll just be replaced by something harder for me to find. That is the only way anyone else will find out. There was only one person in the universe who could forced anything like that out of me, and [angrier:] none of them have anything on him.

[Costigan listens silently, watching every flicker of emotion that crosses Kyle's face. He's not trained well enough to recognize them all, but he gets the gist of it and, in the end, nods in acceptance of the answer. He can trust the guy with this and he knows that. Although part of him wants to ask more, to find out how it is that someone can transition from being an undercover to returning to some other kind of life, but he knows he can't. Not right now, not yet. He doesn't have that kind of trust with anyone here, short of Reid maybe.

When he replies, it's pointed and the words carry a weight he normally never allows them.]

Thank you.

[Kyle shrugs.] Hey. I'm just doing my job.

[A powerful statement.]

I'll remember that.

[The undercover drops his arms and shoves his hands into his pockets again, his expression evening to a mild sort of frown at the other man.]

Something else bothering you?

[Kyle knows they're not exactly friends yet - if Costigan is even the kind to call people friends - but this is a start, right?]

[Costigan gives a facial shrug, then shakes his head a little.]

Not like that. [He nods at the paper he handed over a moment before.] Just trying to figure things out, figure out who I can trust here. That's all.

[He doesn't need to say that Kyle's included in that judgment; it's pretty obvious. So far, Costigan trusts Kyle to do something so long as it's in Kyle's job description. Not much more than that.]

Must be tough. You're not used to all the weird crap.

[He understands, of course, and he's speaking from experience a little. Going from an environment where he didn't have to worry about this to one filled with paranoia and suspicion has been especially hard on him.]

You are?

[He asks almost immediately, completely sincere. It's hard to imagine this kind of thing being normal. The powers, the turtle, the Empire. He's used to government, sure, but not like this. And so many threats to power and law.. Every part of it is unsettling. Worse than Frank, the way it can be anywhere.

Costigan drops his gaze and then casts it around briefly.]

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