A Hunter goes home
Toshi:
*Smiling she looked at herself in the mirror. Since she had met
Becca her choice of clothing had changed.. Jeans, t-shirts and
running shoes were now her norm. All in all since making friends
with Becca she was becoming more of a normal teen.. The music on
the radio blaring out some rock music.. She missed Pole though..
He hadn't been around for a long time.. Then again she wasn't
looking forward to him returning to find out about her
involvement in the attack on the compound. Then there was the
meeting she had had with Gash..*
Pole:
*Pole was half-way lost in his own world, musing as he strolls
down the hallways, in fairly casual clothes.... snug-fitting
Levi's, a snug-fitting black t-shirt, and his leather boots. It
all added to his good-boy, charming looks, which he was freely
displaying these days. He never wore his mask as much anymore,
only when in the field now, not /always/ like he'd used to do. He
didn't /always/ wear his uniform either, like he used to, which
kept the mask from looking out of place. You just didn't parade
around in jeans and a full face mask. He didn't use his hologram
either. he didn't have to anymore. He /had/ a face now and he
revelled in that fact. Indeed, quite a few things about Warpole
has changed. Even his ego wasn't quite so huge, as that had
covered other things, like his mask, that didn't need covering
anymore.... and then... THEN... Venin was back. She'd come home.
He wondered if things could... but no, that had been years ago
and the feelings were gone, weren't they? Now he wandered the
halls of the French HeadQuarters looking for his adopted sister,
Toshi, who apparently had gotten into the frackas of Venin's
breakout... he scowls as he approaches her room. The heat
signature from inside, behind the walls, matched hers. A red and
blue and yellow and green blob that vaguely resembled a human
body moved within. Yes, it was she. He pauses outside the door,
raises his hand, and raps his knuckles on the door...*
*Hearing the tap she moves to answer the door. Frowning wondering who was out there.. Few people still came to see her.. She didn't know that Pole was back in town… Pulling the door open she gasps in surprise.. the next second has her flinging herself against him.* Pole!!! *She couldn't believe he was here.. She had missed him so much. For the moment she forgot the scolding she was sure to get.*
*His scowl fades very quickly when he gets an armful of elated Toshi. With a blink, and that's all, his temperment alters, and he wraps his barrel-like arms about the girl in a crushing hug, lifting her partially off the floor* Hey, Toshi... long time no see, huh? *he wears a small grin as he lowers her again and looks down at her*
*Her arms wrapped around his neck as she hugged him tight. Grinning she looks up at him as he sets her down..* Where have you been Pole? I've really missed you.. You've never been gone this long with out a call or nothing.. How long are you going to be here? *Her questions where sent in rapid fire as she is unable to contain her excitement.. Tugging on his hand to pull him in to her room. She had felt so lonely with out him around.. She had made a few friends, but they just weren't the same.*
*Her rapid-fire questions, her tugging on his hand, her excitement... they all throw Pole back to another time, another young girl, though several years younger than Toshi... and he has to push the memories away, which were coming more often of late, and grin, honestly, in its place. It was a strange feeling; not exactly hurt, though some of that, but... deja vu? Maybe something like that. He's dragged into her room and takes a small moment to blink at it, taking it all in, memorizing as was natural with a cybernetic brain. he chuckles softly and focuses again on Toshi* I've been moving the crap /here/ back to the American base. Its opened again. Sorry I didn't call, been... busy. Not easy setting up a whole base all over again. *he grins a bit brighter* Anyway, partly here to ask if you wanna go back with me, you belong in the States and all. And I've missed you too, Toshi. Been worried about you...
*Hearing about the American base being reopened she frowns looking away as she remembers what happened when it was destroyed. She had lost all her friends.. Her family.. All but Pole. It still hurt to think about that time. She had lost perhaps more than any other. Yet she had also gained so much. When he asks if she wants to go back she hesitates.. Could she return to the base? But that is where Pole was. She nods her response as she is afraid her voice will break if she tries to speak.. She tried to be strong, but she was still just a child.*
*Pole watches her a moment; her silence bothers him... she nods, but... he sighs and fixes her with a small look* What's the matter, Toshi? You don't want to go back? Because you don't have to, if you don't want to...
*Not go back?! Surprised she looks back at him.* No! I mean.. *sighing she flops down on the bed. Her time with Becca bringing out the teen in her.* I want to be with you Pole.. You're the only family I have, but.. *How could she tell him how she felt? That she was afraid, hurting.. Everyone here seemed so strong. She wasn't like that.. She tried, but she just didn't know how to act with people. Finally she takes a deep breath whispering.* What would I do Pole? I need to be able to do something not just sit here..
*Pole cocks his head, watching her quietly, eyes following her as she flops on her bed... she seemed younger than he remembers. He'd met Becca, but he didn't know how close Toshi was with the motor-mouthed, never-came-up-for-air downright STRANGE girl. He tries to guess at what's wrong by process of elimination* Um... most the Americans will be relocated back home. You won't be alone there.... *he pauses and nods slowly, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops and leaning against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other* Well, there's more to do there than /here/ that's fer sure. I mean France isn't /overrun/ with unnatural activity or nuthing'... we can get ya in the field, if that's what ya mean... /after/ some wreckroom episodes tho.
*She wondered if that was why she hadn't seen Becca lately.. Had she gone to America without telling her goodbye? When he mentions more to do and getting her in the field she sits up.* Really? You really mean it.. Gash said.. *Realizing what she started to say she stops then rushes on hoping he didn't catch the slip.* I'll do anything you want if I can /do/ something.. I'm not completely hopeless.. I did help when the compound here was attacked.. *She almost winces when she says that.. Here she was hoping he didn't mention it and she has to..*
Gash? *a brow arches high and Pole fairly growls, snarls, his warning, leaning in and pointing a finger at Toshi threateningly* Don't go /near/ that one, you got me? he's sick, twisted, and you don't want NOTHIN' to do with him, understand? *he was, in Pole's opinion, a perverted sadistic /bastard/ who shouldn't have been salvaged from whatever the GUARD saved him from to make him a cyhunter. Pole calms and straightens, leans back against the wall with arms folded over his broad chest, and points an arched look at Toshi, but nothing more* Yes, I know you did. *he shakes his head* That was NOTHIN' a rookie should've been involved in, you KNOW that, Toshi.
*She is shaken from the venom in Pole's voice as he warns her against Gash.. She leans back away from him her eyes wide in shock and fear. Pole had never talked to her like this! Nodding she looks up at him.* I wont Pole.. *when he continues on about the attack she stands up. Her body now trembling with anger.* I had to do something! I lost everyone one I knew except you the last time. I couldn't sit back and allow that to happen again! I don't care if I should have or not.. If I hadn't of been there one of us would have died.. *standing in front of him she glares up. Her chin thrust out in defiance. She knew she shouldn't have gone, but the pain of losing her home, her friends, everything she had known had been too much to let her stay in the back ground.*
*He doesn't apologize for the vehemence of his warning. She needed to hear it that way, and she needed to obey. Warpole knew very well what kind of twisted freak Gash had become, his delight in doling pain, his pleasure in others' pain, their screams... he didn't want Toshi involved in any that. One brow just slightly arches as she lashes out at him in anger and justification, defending her actions. Warpole keeps his voice calm and quiet, but slightly edged, strength and steel. His gaze is anchored to her eyes, and he doesn't look away the entire time he speaks. He may not even blinks...* The losses we incurred we... great and unfortunate, I know, Toshi. But it wouldn't have helped anyone or any/thing/ if you'd died, too. It was Venin, Abyss, and their friends, Toshi... veterans. Damn good at what they do, all of them. You wouldn't have stood a chance. They went light on the place. I mean, now the American Base has depressurization abilities, vacuum displacement, because of that, but Toshi... you can't help anyone else if /you're/ dead too. You're a ROOKIE, girl, you shouldn't have been there. But I understand, too, wanting to help your friends and family. I know what you lost. But I don't wanna lose /you/, understand?
*She wanted to maintain her anger. Wanted to show him that she could be strong, but hearing his words she realizes he is right.. His last words leaving her totally at a loss. What would she have done if she had lost him? Tears well up in her eyes as she nods.* Your right.. I'm sorry Pole I didn't think. *Once more she felt like the lost lonely girl in Seattle.* I'll do what you say.
*Oddly enough, Pole /chuckles/... ruefully, mirthlessly, but he chuckles nonetheless and shakes his head* Toshi... its too late. What's done is done. *he'd looked away as he laughed, and now casts his gaze back on her, from under his lashes, his head lowered* Yeah, I'm right, I know I am. But that... doesn't always make things okay, does it? You DID think, you just thought another /way/... and I can't blame ya, Toshi, I'd have done the same thing. Just don't go running into danger blindly, alright? If yer gonna do that at all, at least /stroll/ into danger, saunter, even, but take it all /in/, know what's going on, know yer odds, know yer enemy. And know when to pull out..... you pickin' up what I'm throwin' down? *he grins broader* You ain't gonna do what I say, cuz What I say is boring. We'll getcha into the Wreckroom, okay? So you can get some experience before we send ya out....
*She wasn't sure what she had expected, but it certainly wasn't his laughter.. Surprised she looks at him. Smiling as he talks to her. Finally chuckling herself.* All right I'll remember to saunter next time. *She knew he would know there would probably be a next time.. Despite the training she was bound to make some mistakes as a rookie, but at least she was finally going to be part of the team. Not an outsider or a lab project.* I can't wait to get started Pole.. *Smiling she turns around moving over to the closet.* When do we leave for America?
Now, if you like... *he murmurs it softly, much more pleased when she smiled, when she was happy. Man, he was /such/ a sucker... and he knew it. Oh, he knew she was going to make mistakes, even the best did, it was natural. He doesn't like the idea of her going into the field, she could be hurt or worse... but being part of a team was, well, it'd be good for her. And she wants this. Pole was hard-pressed to deny Toshi /anything/ she wanted. Sucker. Yup. He sighs and and looks over to the mirror she'd been primping in when he knocked on the door* Yer wardrobe's changed. I like it. *he was looking at himself as he said it... and it seems a vain, vain action indeed. Most likely, it is not* There's an old saying, Toshi... or a joke, or whatever you want to call it. There were two wolves on a hillside looking down over a flock of sheep. The younger turned to the older one and said "Let's run down there and screw one of the sheep." And the older shook his head and said "No. Let's /walk/ down there and screw em all". *Well, he cleans it up for Toshi's sake. He generally didn't talk that way in front of young ladies, but he hopes she understands what he's trying to say* You need help packing?
I would.. *She reached in to grab the small suitcase she had gotten. Moving between it the closet and her dresser.. While she had started to expand her wardrobe there still wasn't much to it. At his compliment she smiles looking over at him.* Thanks.. Becca has helped me a lot.. *Thinking of Becca she tilts her head.* Pole? Will Becca be in America? *She really hoped so as she had enjoyed the times spent with the other girl. When Pole recounts the joke she stares at him in shock.. She had only just been learning slang and so understood what he meant, but that he had something like this to her! for a moment she can only stare at him.. Then her lips start to twitch and she is soon laughing.*
Gawd, I hope not... *he mutters it rather darkly, but the sad fact is, Becca was already there. He sighs heavily and turns from the mirror, walking towards her as she grabs her bag to start packing* I think she's there already, pumpkin. You're one of the last to be moved. Dunno how you got lost in the shuffle. Then, she gives him a blank stare. He stares back, just as blankly. He blinks once. Her lips twitch... she starts to laugh... he can't help himself, its infectious... he chuckles and looks off to the side, laughs a little harder. God, he /had/ been crass with that one, hadn't he? It felt odd to have talked to her like that to begin with and she'd had every right to slap him for such an anecdote... but instead she was laughing. He was very relieved. His eyes cut back at her, shining blue with amusement* ...yeah, well...
*Getting her laughter under control she hugs him quickly. A little disappointed that Becca might not be there until he says she may be there already. Smiling she closes her suitcase shaking her head chuckling.* I seem to be always lost in the shuffle.. I think it's cause of my status.. No longer lab case and not yet active agent.. Everyone forgets I'm around except you.. *If it wasn't for Pole she isn't sure what would have happened. She knew that it had only been because of him that anyone had searched for her.. Most had been unaware of her existence.. She shudders thinking of what her fate would have been if something had happened to Pole. She would have totally been lost then.*
Bureaucratic red tape, pumpkin, nothing more... *he grins at the hug and pats her back awkwardly as she turns back for her bags. He remembers something then and mentions it* They're starting to place shields up, too. Um... mental shields. And data banks. *he makes a face at it* Some psi sh-- I mean crap. You'll get a shield too. The data bank, as I understand it, is in case you ever defect. Lets 'em take out all stored information on the GUARD, or something. You have a problem with any of that? *he shifts, facing the door now, ready to go* You got anything else you want taken, Toshi?
*Looking around the room to make sure she got everything she listens to him. When he mentions the shields she frowns.* Will they work with my bracelets? *The bracelets were part of her problem. They were the reason she didn't have the comm link or the teleport circuits. Neither could be implanted in her body and the bracelets had put out too much interference for them to be down in them. Not seeing anything she shakes her head.* I think I have everything.. *She still didn't have much in the way of personal possessions.*
*he nods and answers* Its a psionic shield, not a mechanical device. It doesn't touch yer body or yer mind, really, it just... shields it. One of our best will place em for you. He's damn strong. Ain't no implanting, if ya know what I mean. Pure telepathy. *he looks around the room as she does and smiles* Well, okay then, Toshi, let's go. You need to say bye to anyone, or they all at the Base already?
*Nodding she hopes it works.. she knew though that she is so different than many of the other unnaturals. She starts to move to the door when he asks if she needs to say goodbye to anyone. Sighing she shakes her head.* No.. Becca is really the only friend I've made..
Yeah, and she's there already... *where she can't see, he rolls his eyes* God help us all... *the last he mutters, very quietly, then glances at her, smiling* Okay, darlin', let's get going then, shall we? Beauty before age... *he moves aside so she can exit first* Onward to the transport room, eh? You gonna miss this place?
*Giggling she moves out the door waiting for him before she moves down to the transport room.* I'll miss it only because it is the first place I've really been.. *That was all though.. It had been lonely without Pole around. Just knowing he was close had been enough to always keep her isolation at bay. Hopefully if she could get in to training everything would change and she would finally make friends.*
*Pole drapes an arm about her shoulders gently, a casual, friendly gesture and walks down the hallway to the transport room with her in that manner. He ignores all the French GUARDians, for the most part, speaking softly to Toshi instead, tho he nods to ones he knows here and there* Good. You need to get out of here and into the world, I think. Meet people, make friends, see how it all works. You NEED to stop being so damned isolated. It was never healthy for you. Course, being out in the field where you can get /killed/ isn't healthy for you either... *he sighs petulantly* I don;t like that part, you know. You could get hurt, or worse.
*He was the only one she felt comfortable in touching.. All those years of not being able to touch still ingrained in her. He had been the only one she could touch then. Despite the change in his appearance, which she frankly liked, he was still her Pole. Just as soft she talks to him.* I'm trying to Pole, but it isn't easy.. I never learned how to interact with others. Never had the chance for a childhood like everyone else.. *Sighing she shakes her head defending the scientist that had been her family.* There wasn't much of a choice though was there.. I couldn't have exactly wandered around changing forms every second. It wasn't suppose to be like this.. If the others.. *Blinking back tears she takes a shaky deep breath.* I know you don't want me in the field, but I have to become a part of the team.. Besides I worry about you every time you go out.. If something happens to you I'll have no one.. *the last was said so quietly he might not have heard it.*
*Cybernetic hearing compensates for the lack of human hearing, and he picks up every word she says as well as if she'd said it all in one even tone. He knows it was tough on her, he knows very well, but something in her answer bothers him... he frowns and looks down at her, concerned* Toshi... yer not saying you'd... risk yer life just to /make/ friends, are you? Cuz honey, that's not the right reason. And you could just as easily be part of a team doing clerical work rather than field work. As fer me, I've been doing this awhile. 6 years or more now, and I'm not all flesh and blood, as you well know. But you, Toshi, you /are/. And if I lose a limb, it don't matter. But it should matter to /you/. Nothing's gonna happen to me, I promise. And if something does, well... you can punish me by never talking to me again, how's that? *he smiles briefly* I worry about /you/ and its not the same.
*She should have known he would hear everything.. Sighing she shakes her head.* I'm not going to take any unnecessary risks. That isn't what I meant. Pole I love you.. Your like a brother to me, but everyone knows that we are close.. If I stayed in a cushy clerical job everyone would think it was because you pulled strings to protect me. It would only isolate me more.. I couldn't stand that.. At least in the lab I didn't know about anything else. I had you and the others, but to be isolated here.. *Frowning she bites her lip hoping he could understand what she was trying to tell him.* I need to be a member of the team to make it or not on my own.. No special treatment or perceived special treatment..
....I'd expected as much... *he breathes a laugh and grins, though not with joy. Yvette had been much the same, said much the same, and he merely nods* Alright punkin, but I want ya to know I don't like it. Other than that, I'll support yer decisions best I can. But I won't like it. And I tell ya RIGHT now, that If I ever go out into the field witcha, I ain't gonna stand back and just /let/ you get hurt.... *they enter the transport chamber. Pole says a few things to the techie in French, and guides Toshi to the platform*
*Laughing she hugs him again. This getting several surprised looks from the techies.* Thanks Pole! You're the best. All I ask is for the chance same as any rookie. *Happier than she has been in a long time she moves onto the platform waiting to head home with Pole.*