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?

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[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.]

I've seen and done things most people from my world would have a hard time believing. [He shrugs.] Probably why I don't tell them. [That, and he honestly doesn't care what they think of him or his work.]

Yeah, but.. are you used to it? Really used to it?

[Costigan doesn't dismiss anything Kyle's saying, but he wants to know what's in the other man's head as best he can.]

I can't be standing around questioning whether something exists when it's right in front of me and killing people.

[That's a very sad way of saying 'yes'.]

What if it's not killing them?

[Because Kyle has powers too; he's as unfamiliar as the rest of them right now and some part of that upsets the Bostonian.]

Do I look like the kind of guy who has enemies he can talk to over coffee?

I didn't say anything about enemies.

[Costigan gives him a pointed look, or tries, to point out that it's not just the villains who are so very different from the normal world.]

[Kyle sighs and looks at the ground, and laughs softly.] I've been in the war too long.

[Finally, an opening the undercover can actually take without looking horrendously suspicious.]

You think you can ever go back? Live a normal life after all this?

['There are three ways you leave this Corps. As a failure, as a fool, or as a corpse,' Salaak had said.

Kyle gives him a look that starts out curious and fades into neutral. Distant, like he is when he talks about the less pleasant parts of his work.] Maybe for other people it might work, but not for me.

[I'm a fighter and they'll always need people to die.]

[The undercover stares at Kyle for a beat, then nods to acknowledge the statement. He says nothing else on the topic, recognizing that neutrality and a little surprised that the man has answered him this much. Not wanting to overreach his boundaries more than he already has, Costigan gives another glance around before looking back to the lantern.]

Thanks for your help, guy. Even if it is just your job.

I'll do what I can with that. [He gestures to the paper.] By the way, if you want to think up a code to communicate in, I know enough alien languages to make a good one.

[Costigan smirks at that, almost laughing, but resists. It's such an obscene offer that he can't help it, as if it isn't one of the furthest things from what he might want.]

I think I'm all set without any alien code system.

[He relaxes, and laughs genuinely.] Cool. See you around, then?

See you.

[Costigan half turns towards the exit, turns back, and pauses. He opens his mouth as if to say something, then thinks better of it and turns away again as if he hadn't just reneged on his initial departure. Then the Bostonian is moving towards the exit without hesitation and, unless Kyle stops him, he'll continue out of sight and on his way.]

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imaginate - 2013-03-21 02:48 (UTC) - Expand

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