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SHIELD. They said they'd give Barney his space. Then he got a message saying there was a potential mission. One to meet in Central Park to discuss it. A time, a place. Nothing more. Apparently someone in SHIELD takes this spy business seriously.
It might be a surprise, then, to find that the contact sitting on a large rock at the edge of the lake is the girl with the red hair, though that's mostly covered by a woven cap pulled over her head. In an oversized coat with a scarf slung over her shoulders and a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands, she looks more like a local vagrant than someone who's waiting for a meeting.
*
It's almost a game, Barney and SHIELD. He's got his junior agent tailing him once again. Daily, he picks up his tail at a location (he makes it obvious as to his 'haunts' until they get the hint) and at the end of the day, when he's headed home, he loses them in the city streets, the subways and the busses. Never the same twice going home.
So, his message was actually hand delivered by his junior agent tail before the kid disappeared to that out of the way spot needed to keep an eye and not be obtrusive. Barney doesn't look dressed and ready for the day. He's got a leather coat on, jeans, button down shirt, unkempt hair and he could use a shave. And there is that left arm in a sling. So, they look a pair as he picks his way towards the redhead.
"What, no coffee?"
*
"There's a cart about half-way around the lake," Ava replies, looking up with a faint smirk. "I can wait if you want to go get some." She hasn't been assigned tail Barton duty yet, but the way she looks at him suggests she's been taking notes on whatever the other junior agents are trying. This one isn't a quitter.
"Or we can talk about why we're here and we can both get on with our lives."
*
"All depends on how long you want me, darlin'." Still, Barney doesn't seem to be making his way towards the aforementioned coffee cart, yet. "Always keeping the option open, though." He approaches and looks down at the rock she's sitting on and scowls before he slowly takes a seat, if only to make it all look a little less conspicuous. To add, he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and makes the offer even as he takes one out for himself and lights it.
"I'm not big on sharin', fair warning. So, g'head and talk, and I'll butt in if I see a need." Barney looks out on the lake with the first draw on the cigarette and mumbles, "Coffee would'a been a nice touch, though."
*
Ava wrinkles her nose at the cigarette, shaking her head before she looks back out to the water. "The Director says I need a partner for an investigation. But the senior agents all have…flashing neon lights over their heads that say 'government agent,'" she begins, rolling her eyes.
"So I need someone who doesn't. Which so far, looks like you." She drapes her forearms over her knees, pensive. "You wrote down many things in that interrogation room. Did any of them have to do with something called Weapon X?"
*
"Okay, time to butt in." Barney looks beside him, and he's shaking his head. "Investigation? Like, undercover and crap? Or more like a 'find the weakness to go back later and kill everyone' sort of thing?" He can sort of do both, but…
"I don't look like an agent because I'm not. Never was, never will be. I got my skills and they got theirs." Barney puts the pack of cigarettes away when they're refused, and he pulls on his once again, letting the smoke out. "Weapon X. Some guy was yellin' about it in the 'Kitchen last night. Right before he stabbed someone's eyes out and left 'em bleeding to death on the road." Remarkably, he says this about as dispassionately as one would ask for eggs, over easy, and toast with butter. "Some girl pulled a suicide move to try and stop him." Barney shrugs, "First time I heard about it."
There's a long pause, but it's only really a heartbeat or two before, "That's a really fucking stupid name for a project if you ask me."
*
Ava shrugs. "I didn't pick the name, I just heard it. Ours was the Red Room." She looks back to him, head tilting as she considers his first question. "Undercover is overstating it. More…just not walking in like a pair of government agents demanding answers and expecting the force of an organization behind them. Just…not mentioning that part."
She tugs her hat down a little further, shoulders hunching against a cold wind off the lake. "There's a group of PIs in Hell's Kitchen who are looking into it. What'd you guy from last night look like?"
*
"A little more colorful," Barney takes another drag off the cigarette, the tip glowing a dull red, mixing with the ash already present. The description of 'agent' does actually bring a hoarse chuckle from the man. "That always made my job easier. Hell, darlin'. You could pull an agent off, use him as bait, everyone looks at him and you do your job." It's a suggestion, anyway. "If you don't mind losing your manpower, anyway."
As for what the man looked like? Barney offers up a reasonably credible description of Akihiro, claws and all. And what the kid said, for what it was worth. (Player could look it up, but later.. and will fill in for the log!) "So, we're running against the PIs there? Lookin' for info before they find it?"
*
"That sounds like Akihiro," Ava grimaces. She opens her mouth, ready to explain, then shakes her head. "Sorry, backing up. Weapon X, it seems, is a secret government program meant to obtain and train mutants for black ops. From what I've heard, it's also involved a lot of experimentation on the subjects. Akihiro seems to be a…graduate? I don't think that's entirely true. It sounds like he escaped. And has a grudge."
She looks back out toward the lake, lips pursing as she thinks it through. "It sounds as though these PI's have had some connection to it as well. According to them, the newspaper article recently shone a light on the program. The government thinks they've taken control of it and everything will be fine. I know that when you shine a light on something, the insects only find deeper shadows."
*
The cigarette is stared at for a long moment before Barney scowls at it and stubs it out beside him. "Yeah, well.. what side of the fence are we sittin'? Are we lookin' to take down the loose cannons, helping the government out, or are we looking to break it open?" He can easily work either side; been there, done that. Of course, a third option would be to move SHIELD in and make everyone involved look like an idiot.
"Gimme the upshot, here. Where are we goin' in and why."
*
"We're helping the PIs," Ava answers, looking back to him. "Because this Weapon X? If it is what it sounds like, then someone has to go into those shadows and put it down. And SHIELD's current…" She waves a hand, wrinkling her nose. "SHIELD isn't willing to get its hands dirty enough to get in. The PIs are. I brought it to the director because I'll need SHIELD's resources when we finally find them, and I won't have time to convince her that this was all done the way she wants it. But I don't want them-"
She takes a deep breath, letting it out in a huff. "These Weapon X people will smell SHIELD, and they'll dig deeper, and they'll get away."
*
"So are we taking the Weapon X people down or are we taking their frankenstein monsters down?" Barney's a little funny about the nuances here, though it's starting to sound like something that falls into 'his category'. To locate and remove in any way appropriate.
"Nice to know that their absence, who ever 'they' are, won't be noticed by the papers." As opposed his more high profile hits over the years. "You're the face for those PI people. I don't wanna know them."
*
"Weapon X. Although the monsters may be a gray area," Ava grimaces. She's pragmatic enough to admit that they can't save everyone. "Some of them may be there unwilling and able to come back to the world. Some of them will have been broken. If they're a danger, then there's nothing left to save."
She nods to the last. "Good. Because it would look weird if I actually brought someone else in. I don't exactly come with a lot of friends, and you don't look like someone who just happens to be my friend."
*
"I didn't say that I'd take it yet, darlin'," Barney drawls softly. "Just layin' groundwork here to see if we're understanding each other. We take out the Weapon X people, put down the monsters that are broken, and… I'll let you decide that. Just call my shots." He's good with that.
"That guy, Aki.. whatever.. he said the guy he took down was a Weapon X guy. So, I guess just one less target."
Barney raises his brows at the last bit and chuffs a laugh, shaking his head before he looks back out on the water, "Never seen you before in my life."
*
"I wasn't actually asking," Ava smirks back at him, a flicker of amusement in her features. "I asked the director, because she's the one who needs to approve. I'm letting you know she approved. Now, you can help, if you want," she shrugs. "But I'm going to tell her you're helping either way. Stories work better if we both have the same one, though."
*
In the first breath, she's telling him that she's not asking him… but before Barney could find his breath in order to tell her where she could stuff that, she's finishing her statements. He looks at her, stares at her, studies her for a long moment before he starts to laugh. It's quiet, but it's most definitely laughter. "Okay. Okay. You got me. Bringin' down Weapon X just because it's stupid as shit name." He really doesn't care about the experimentation. "All action will be disavowed, which is exactly what I'm used to." He actually sounds like he prefers it that way. "All's I need is a list of targets, home addresses, etc.. and I'll be good to go." A lop-sided smile remains behind the laughter and he looks out on the lake, "And you'll never have to see me."
*
"I thought you'd see it that way," Ava smiles faintly, offering over a hand. "I'll keep you updated. You keep losing your tails. Nobody needs to worry about either of us."
*
Barney takes the hand for a moment; he's got long, thin fingers, but over the years, they're a little scarred. "You know where I work." It's deadpanned, and once that shake is done, the wiry man begins to rise, pulling at his jacket a little against the chill breeze. "Next time, coffee first," is given as he settles his one free hand into his coat's pocket. "Just for future reference."
*
Ava's hand is slight, but strong, dirt deep in her knuckles. The girl's clearly got her own baggage. But she doesn't seem inclined to share it with anyone else just yet. "Next time, stop and get your own coffee," she replies with another this smirks, standing up. "Men and their coffee."
*
"Yeah, well.. there's a reason for it." Barney runs fingers through unkempt, straight hair, up and back off his face for a second. That second passes when he drops his hand again. "Make sure you tell Junior that I'm headed out to the library. Tell him to grab a bite to eat or somethin'."
With that, Barney turns to leave, headed down the path that leads further into the park, ready to double-back on his trail and maybe tell the junior agent that himself.
*