Spy Versus Spy

Participants:

christian_icon.gif dantes_icon.gif minea_icon.gif teo_icon.gif

Scene Title Spy Versus Spy
Synopsis In which Christian points a gun at Felix for pointing a gun at Teo who's doing so because Teo shot him down in Brooklyn once, and nobody knows who everybody is except for the one who is too paranoid to stay.
Date December 17, 2008

Cliffside Apartments: Rooftop


It's the grey, still hours before dawn. There's only the barest lightening of the eastern sky, and the city is as quiet as it ever gets. And Dantes is slipping silently into his old apartment building, for all the world like a ghost a bit late to his haunting. He knocks softly on the door that leads to Chris's place. He's gaunt and tired, a bruise on his cheekbone, a certain gingerly manner to his movement that indicates other wounds less visible - he's in a dark shirt, jeans, and dark coat, and gingerly leans his weight against the outside of the door frame.

Christian being the incredibly thoughtful fellow he is, has set a note on the door"On the roof". Meanwhile, on the roof Christian is working the grill just as advertised. Wearing his motorcycle jacket, and wearing a particularly well used Shemagh around his neck the cold is kept at least temporarily at bay. "so tell me more about these little boat things you want?"his gaze lifting from the steaks on the grill, giving Teo a careful study.

He hadnt been able to spend much time with his best friend lately, and now with the arrests taken care of he had a little more free time to socialize. Granted, this wasn't really being social in the grand sense but it was it was still something of a step for Chris. "Oh hey and pass me another Grolsch will'ya?"

"Nothing to tell. Do what you want," Teo answers, cheerfully. He's sitting across two chairs, sort of: upside down in one, his denim-clad legs flung over the top of its backpiece, his head on the other, letting the rush of blood into his skull ward off the sting of winter on his face. "Although I do know where to get your assault rifles, if you really want. Cash will be fine, for that whole 'equitable payment' thing if you really insist, amico. Cooler's empty," he observes, next, craning his head.

"Be right back." With that, he somersaults himself out of the chairs. It is only a slight acrobatic mess, which he recovers from with a decidedly childish guffaw, not bothering to straighten his jacket as he goes stumping down the stairs to get beer. Halfway to the fridge, he hears the knock at the front. Squints at it, suppressing the instinct to step backward, looking for a moment more the part of a furtive wolf than a mild-mannered boy. Frowning slightly, he remembers the note already taped up there.

In a moment, he returns to Christian with beer and sprawls between his chairs again. "Hey. Do I get a card or certificate thing of fanciness to credit me for managing not to flunk that test?"

It's cold out. And Dantes is tired, oh, so tired, and hurt. So he drags himself up to the roof. There's the sound of feet in the apartment, but also up on the roof. So he seeks out he stairs and heads up like the world's most persistent zombie. The door to the roof creaks open like a rusted gate, and noses out. Aw. Christian has a boyfriend, and they're cooking breakfast….and just before Dantes is about to relax into a sheepish grin and greet Christian with a wave, the last synapse in the chain fires. Which equates to a bruised, battered, and rather wild-eyed Felix making a Glock appear in his hand like a magician pulling a dove out of his sleeve, and its mouth ending up pointing firmly at Teo's face. There's the sickness of a lifelong spook who's just had all his paranoia that everyone who knows him is really out to fuck him over confirmed written all over his features. Cue the sound of someone's brain shattering.

"Cash is good, I have it to spend and seriously they're freaking that I'm not spending more. My boss was tellin me to drink more expensive beer, or buy some more cigars. It was actually pretty funny, in like an army way I guess."he slips the spatula over to his left hand as Teo slips away, filling it soon after with another beer. He pops the top, and sets it gently aside the fire pan to warm.

"Yeah I filed the paperwork, I'm gonna have the paperwork in like a-"Christian's gaze lifting slowly to note the somewhat unfamiliar features of Dante. There is no pause, no moment of consideration. In a flash he sweeps his shoulder back, snagging his revolver and bringing it up to level on Dantes in a seemingly superhuman flash. His 329PD glittering all pretty like in the firelight, as Christian intentionally and rather audible brings the S&W's hammer back. CLICK-SNAP. "Drop the weapon or I ghost you right here motherfucker."his tone is cool, nevermind the beating of Christian's heart."Teo, get behind me and keep your hands up. I've got him dead to rights."

Despite the number of times Teo's had people or accidental objects want to kill him and be close enough to do it, he still hasn't gotten that whole 'life flashes before your eyes' thing down properly, never mind the Barenaked Ladies' poetry. Always, he gets a seizure of inanities instead. This time, he's thinking about grapefruit as he stares up the barrel of Felix's gun, his own baby blues innocuously wide and blue as the sky is forecast to get once the sun rises high enough to burn off the clouds and humidity.

He finds himself in the spectacularly //bizarre/ position of knowing more or less exactly what's going on with the FBI guy and the gun and the FCC guy and the gun and himself fucking around on two chairs despite that neither other guy does.

His mouth finds a hard line a shade below a sneer and his frame remains fixed rigidly in its lazy, lazy languour. Christ on a stick; fucking Feds. "His name's Dantes and he needs your help more than I do, Chris," he says, finally, turning his eyes toward his friend without moving his head. "Put your gun down. Please?"

Dantes is trembling, ever so slightly. Not from chill, but the overload of that peculiar adrenaline he runs on. But his eyes are wide and white-rimmed, like a panicked horse's. The gun, however, remains rock steady, even as his gaze darts between the two of them. "Chris. Who is this guy?" he wonders, tone tight, and hopeless. "You know who I am. You saved me before. And this guy tried to kill me just the other day. I found….found the man we were looking for. Turns out he's got a stupid people trick of his own. Mr. X-Ray Spex. But this mope was with him, and he fucking shot me."

By now, neither Teo nor Dantes has any excuse to believe Chris wont use deadly force at the slightest provocation. Indeed, hammer back and the slack of his trigger taken up. All that separates Dantes from trying to dodge a bullet which runs at nearly twice the speed of sound is a few petty ounces of trigger pressure if that much. "Drop the weapon, turn around and put your hands ontop of your head. Comply immediately."There was no hint of concern, no edge of adrenaline just that cool tone as he eased into motion. His sight picture remained crisp and cool as he advanced the few feet needed to put himself between Dantes and Teo. "Give me a reason." Granted, he didn't need much of one.

"In my defense, I also cleaned him up and took him to the hospital," Teo mentions, the frame just before Christian sticks his enormous self in the way of himself and Dantes' gun. Although Teo isn't exactly a huge fan of guns pointing at his own head, this is considerably less awesome by his pathologically Catholic standard of things. It surprises him. So much so that he almost startles upright in his chairs, his eyes gone large enough to make him actually look his age.

"No, don't you fu—" Yes, Christian will fu-, apparently. When his outline entirely overlaps Dantes', he does get up, swift though not sudden, his shoes scuffing the concrete; he fumbles upright. Takes a step forward, then back, erratic between the instinct to run and the compulsion to put his hand through somebody's face. With a sudden scowl, he begins to step backward, moving toward the stairwell geometrically opposite the one Felix had arrived out of.

Which Fel had apparently conveniently forgotten. But he yields, as Christian removes his clear line of sight, and thus any immediate threat from Teo himself. Gambling on the assumption that Teo likes Chris enough not to shoot him out of hand to take out Dantes. Deliberately, he safes the GLock and drops it to the gravel of the rooftop, and laces his fingers behind his head.

Christian lifts the back of his jacket just a touch, exposing both his crowd pleaser as well as a pair of heavy hinged cuffs. "Walk back towards the sign of my voice, do exactly as you are told or I will shoot you in the fucking back." You know, like anyone here needed Chris to tell them he would. He keeps his sight picture steady, silently easing the hammer back down as his stance opens up just a touch. After Felix gets within about oh seven feet, he issues another command."Stop, kneel and interlace your fingers."as Chris's weak hand slips from his revolver and back to tug that pair of handcuffs free. "Teo, be a dear and draw your pistol. I'd appreciate it if you covered me whilst I cuffed him."

Some part of Teo badly wants to help. He's not a bad kid, under it. He'll clean up after himself, maybe after you too, hold the door open, find Deckard a hooker or Abby a chair, give change to the homeless, die on Romero's command, whatever you ask. However, other parts of him sometimes simply know better. The intelligent parts happen to be the ones that are less obliging, less kind if not crueller. He isn't going any nearer to the terrified and tigger-happy speedster than he has to, and he knows Felix Ivanov isn't going to outright shoot Christian Powell if he hasn't already. "You'll be fine, amico. I'm sorry," he says just loud enough to carry, no part of his misery externalized where either man can hear or see it. He moves down the stairs.

Dantes obediently kneels, with the grace of a man too long used to genuflecting before an altar. Long fingers are knotted behind his head. "Shit. He's getting away," Felix says, from between gritted teeth, daring a look back over his shoulder at the approaching Christian and the departing Teo. There's most of Felix, who is a semi-reasonable human being, who takes care of his cats, occasionally has a beer, and is capable of enjoying himself. And then there's the part that actually makes him police, which is something of an internal wolfhound - all rolling eyes and snapping jaws, straining at the leash. Guess which bit has been driving of late.

Christian downright snarls as he snaps a cuff around one of Dantes' wrists, his strong side quickly holstering his heat. "Eyes forward you piece of shit!"as his hand reaches across to grab at Dantes' other wrist and if nothing else dramatic is planned he'll Cuff Dantes and put a hand on his shoulder. "He's not getting away, because at the very least he's gonna flip my steaks before they burn."he glances over his shoulder to Teo, offering him a reassuring nod. Hey he'd put up his gun, had the suspect in custody. Even Chris wouldn't shoot a cuffed man.

It turns out, the wolfhound more accurately perceives the terrorist than the friend this time. Teo's pretty sure that says nothing good about the world — or he would be if he were around to hear that exchange. Bio-electricity out of his head gives Christian one last flicker of a farewell salutation, and then he's off, vanished somewhere down the mazey concrete innards of the building, finally allowing both older men their privacy. The steaks cook quiescently under the cold sun. With any luck, they'll have Christian's attention before they do burn.

Teo has left.

Christian frowns, gripping firmly at Dante's hair as he proceeds to search his newly acquired prisoner. "You know, I dont have much tolerance for this sort've bullshit."as he unbuttons your overcoat, before tugging the collar up above your ears and quickly forcing the buttons close to form sort've a field expedient hood. "So heres how this goes, the first time I hear an answer I dont like I'm gonna cut your jaw out've your fucking face. Next bad answer, your going over the side of the building. "He snorts, tossing everything he finds on Dantes aside. Now granted Chris isnt wholly going to cut Dantes jaw off, no he's more likely to jus throw him over the side. That will wait however, as he steps silently away to flip the steak and set the pair on a paperplate which he sets by his beer bottle. Steak is equally important to interrogations.

Not much hair there to grip. Underneath the coat, there's a shoulder holster, presumably where that Glock had been riding. Not much else - a wallet bare of ID and nearly so of cash. "Understood," he says, voice muffled.

Christian frowns as he eyes up Deckard, looking carefully through the wallet. "Not even a driver's license, that'd make you either a fuck poor bum or somone who's done this once more. Judging by your coat, I dont rightly reckon your a bum though so that sort've leaves us at an unsavory spot with you doesnt it?"Casually Chris tosses the wallet aside, and walks around to snag the glock off the ground. He peels back the slide just an inch or so to eye the chamber, and measure its caliber by sight. "So tell me, how did you find me and who sent you."

A .45. Nothing fancy about it, no round chambered. "Is the other guy gone?" he wonders. "Because I sent me. I'm the guy you just had work done on. The dead man." He doesn't dare say more if Teo might yet be lurking.

Christian rolls his tongue across his teeth, before digging around in his coat for his cellphone. "I need to see you on the roof of my apartment complex, consider it the most important game in town. "before -beep-. "You better hope you arent, cuz boy she's gonna make life worse than I ever could. If you really and truly are Felix, and you lost her shit you should just start saying your prayers right bout now."

There's movement in the bundle of the hood as if Fel were turning to try and hear better. "Lost what?" he wonders, evidently perplexed. "I figured out how Deckard made me. Turns out he can see in the X-ray range. I'm walking around with a bullet next my spine they couldn't remove, and it shows up right there."

Christian drops the glock's magazine, before neatly removing the slide and tossing the empty frame aside. Cold fingers blindly removing the recoil spring and guide rod, both of which get thrown one way and the barrel another to report loudly on the alley below. "Deckard is a slippery fuck, but knowing he exists does not prove your identity. We're going to wait for our favorite woman, and if she doesnt recognize you I'm gonna kill you in a particularly painful manner that will leave your mother with a closed casket funeral. If you -are- Felix, then I'm pretty sure theres a high likelyhood your bullet will be picking up a few friends. You know how protective of her work she gets."

"I've got her IDs. Just not on me. I didn't want that used until I was sure I wasn't blown," Dantes says, irritably. "My current name is Edward Dantes, because way too many Americans are illiterate fuckers who wouldn't know Dumas if he ran up and bit them on the ass. Please, tell me you get the joke."

Christian narrows his gaze, yeah his literary prowess may not have been a great subject. "You can either shut the fuck up right now, or I can shut you up. Either way, your speaking privelages have been revoked. We'll let her decide what to do with you now."as he gripped the glock's cold square framework in his hand like a palmload, albeit an expensive Austrian one.

Dantes grunts his understanding, and waits, mutely, knees grinding into the gravel.

Minea's not a happy woman. Jeans, shirt, leather jacket. She'd driven fast as she dared in the weather to come to Christian's place after the call. Then peeled up the stairs to the roof. Not badly out of breath, but her gun is out, ready to fire if needed, being careful in case something really nasty is starting to go down. "Christian" She calls out, letting the sound ricochet where it will around the roof. Her gun always preceeding her body. It's too early in the morning to play games.

Christian clears his throat as Minea arrives, though he knows she's there before she speaks. "One friendly left side, one tango direct twelve in custody. You can relax Minea,the immediate danger is over."he glances back almost reluctantly, lifting the glock's slide to show it to Minea"This fucker, claims he's Felix. No ID, no Sig, No Makarov, No Tokarev, No Nagant but instead a glock. He's cuffed and searched, pull down his jacket and tell me if you recognize him. If you do, well take whatever prudent action you deem necessary."

That's going to involve beatings. It always does. Felix, or whatever it is claiming to be him, is silent. He's kneeling on the gravel of the roof, cuffed and with an impromptu blinding hood made out of his own coat over his face.

Minea's safety is locked back into place, gun stowed away back in it's proper place. Confidant that Chris is gonna cover her ass, Minea's footsteps are heard on the rooftop coming to stand off to the side of Felix. Her hand grips the hood and though she's not rough in lifting it, she's not gentle either. "Well shit. What did I tell you Dantes. What in the fuck did I tell you? I gave you those ID's for a reason" She prod's the injured arm, the one she stitched up to see if it's still hurt. not gentle, but not rough. Sort of an acid test. "That's Dantes. Seriously, you need to stop getting caught or the shit i'm doing will be no good. Let him up Einliter. He's good. be gentle, he's been beat up before you"

Christian frowns. "Just use a handcuff key, they're copcuffs."he isnt ready to address Felix just yet. "Do you want to cut off his nuts, or should I?"black humor indeed, but he was pretty sure he deserved atleast that.

He blinks wanly as Minnie lifts the hood. "Minea. I figured out why there was pretty much not any goddamn point to all the magical plastic surgery I just got," Felix's voice is very even, very cold, and very unhappy, though none of it is directed at them, precisely. And then Minea's prodding him, and he goes a shade paler. Still stitched in shoulder and arm, apparently. "Flint Deckard has X-ray vision. I have an AK round next to my spine that no normal surgery can remove, and it shows up nice and clear to him. He claims he's only told one person that Edward Dantes is actually the coincidentally not dead Felix Ivanov. I have an unpleasant feeling I'm back to square one."

"Think I cut them off already, or I thought I did. Christ Dantes what the fuck" There's a livid scowl on her face as she huffs out into the air, her breath frosting out as she fetches her own cuff keys and pops them off the fed. 'Fucking hell. I'll call Bianco, see about a new face. We can ask him about the bullet and what can be done about it I jsut gotta change the names on papers and shit, and get pictures of your new face. Fuck, more unecessary work. Why couldn't you stay away Dantes? The doc even told you not to" THe cuffs are tossed towards Christian to catch and she offers the kneeling man a hand up.

At this point however, Felix or Dantes or whomever has in Christian's view violated some extremely sacred boundries. "He came to my home, pointed a gun at my best friend and he didnt have his ID. Felix you are glad I have such a kind partner, if she wasnt here you would be very dead by now."Which is a true and actual fact, even now Felix has pretty effectively ticked Chris off. "I have one friend in this world, you understand me? I have -one- friend and you come up here pointing a gun at him, in -my- home." Christian snags the cuffs mid air, stuffing them into the small of his back.

"I don't know who that man is, Christian. I have no comment on your friendship with him. But he put a big hole in my shoulder mostly because I was moving too fast for him to put one in my head. I got tortured and shot because some crazy Evolved terrorists wanted Deckard. We want Deckard. I was hoping to track him down to earth, and I was doing just fine until Mr. X-Ray Vision there spotted me. Whereupon your blonde friend there ran me down, and shot me. I woke up chained to a table in some anonymous safehouse. Since I'm alive to speak to you, I presume it was someone other than PARIAH or that worse cell. I came to you figuring you were one of two people I could trust, not that you were harboring terrorists. I know we have to work down some dirty links in our trade, but it was a bit of a shock. Forgive me," He rises, slowly, still very pale.

'What the fuck are you BOTH up to?" Minea looks to Christian, an equally annoyed scowl on her face. "Fuck this shit. I've had two hours sleep. It's cold. Dantes, your coming with me to the loft. Einliter, Be there later, and you explain why your buddy shot Dantes. Right now, we all need sleep and not in the middle of rooftops. I'll get ahold of the doctor, see to this bullet. You can both decide whether to trust your evolved friend to keep his mouth shut or not. Edward, get to the malibu"

Christian fixes his glare on Dantes"if he wanted to kill you, he'd have killed you. You followed Deckard, with a brand new identity intact? You put your cover at risk, you provoked a response as an unknown individual. You followed an allied terrorist group you jackass, what the fuck did you think was going to happen when they found you? Would they kindly ask you to leave?"he snorts, turning to spit. "The fact he didnt just fucking kill you, is a strike in -his- favor not yours you stupid motherfucking cop."

"He's the reason I needa cover in the first place," Edward says, voice very low. "They were after him. He's a link in this whole chain to the motherfuckers who keep blowing up kids. But understood. And my point is that the ID was not intact. Deck tagged me the first moment he saw me." But he ceases to argue, and nods to Minea, turning for the roof's stairwell. He doesn't ask for the Glock back.

"But now we know why and we can see about fixing it." Minea holds out her hand for Edward's gun. "Finish your food god damnit. We'll be at the loft. Call your friend back if you have to. I'll take him back and start the arrangements again"

Christian rolls his knuckles with a crackle pop. "Keep him on a short leash Minea, we dont want any blue on blue now do we."he averts his gaze from Felix, before quietly making his way past the pair and to his steaks. "Dantes, if you blow a second cover I'm going to consider you entirely unable of participating in field operations and I will do everything in my power to make sure your superiors agree. Your lack of ability to govern the proceedings of this operation, lead me to believe you are entirely unable to command it. This is now an army op, the ISA is taking control. From now on, you run everything through me or Minea."

"Understood," Felix says, very low.

"Gimme his gun now Einliter. I think he's appariatly lost his balls a second time. I need to get him safe. the sooner we do this the sooner this can all be over. It's cold and I'm tired. I hate the cold." She'd be fine, she was taght differently, but years of living in south of France and South America condition a body to a degree.

Christian offers over the slide, and then the frame. "I pitched the barrel and recoil assembly."as per the field manual on the manner in which to safety a weapon in the field, textbook indeed. "I already gave him a fucking Sig, one I'd have recognized if I had seen it. We'll talk later Minea, oh and by the way he was about to shoot that sketch artist I told you about. The one who keeps the restoration specialist safe."

"You know what, I swear." The slide and frame are taken. "I swear that I am going to shoot you both before this whole thing is over. Right now, Montpellier is looking awfully tempting. get some fucking sleep. We'll talk about your retorationist and your sketch artist later." Mina turns then, taking Dantes with her back to the car and presumably, back to the Loft.


Voicemail from Christian to Teo 20 minutes later:

"I heard you put a hole in him, and it was explained how that situation came about. I think I'd have killed him. He owes you, considering you helped fake his death. This operation is no longer under his control, nor is he allowed to operate on his own until he can prove to us he's not a fucking waste of a badge. Call me, if you want I'll make him apologize."


The sun is still descending from the sky when Christian's phone rings from a number he doesn't recognize.

Christian blinks, but sets down his soldering iron and picks up the phone. "Hello?"

The voice is familiar, as is the quiet of the sort of location Teo distinctly prefers making his phonecalls from. Quiet ones.
"Buona sera, Chris. Sorry I bailed earlier." His rue sounds characteristically sincere. "I do that sometimes. When there are guns and dead Feds and things I want to be by myself awhile." His voice changes slightly, a click of a jaw: he has his chin on his knees.'

Instantly he leans back."You did the right thing, asking you to cover is a force of habit. I'd have told you to leave, if you hadnt left yourself. I cleared up the misunderstanding at least."

Teo closes his eyes and leans his head on his phone, his phone on his arm, before blinking his eyes open again. "Glad I have your approval, amico," he offers, an agreeable tone to his wry remark. "You've told him who I am?"

Christian smiles just a touch. "Yes, I told him you were my friend and off limits. No names, no explanations. I told him what he did violated every operational parameter we have in place, and that if he ever did anything that even hinted at something like this again I'd have his badge. Strictly speaking, killing him would have been the textbook thing to do so as I see it he owes you double now."

A huff of a sigh: Teo's cheeks puff out when he does it. "I think he's pretty selective about the kinds of stupid he tries to be, and he's curious enough. He's going to figure out who my bosses are." Or possibly worse, that he doesn't technically have one. "This is pretty fucking weird, Chris. Phoenix didn't help you catch PARIAH, and even if you don't want to be a toy soldier for long, you always sound like one. What the fuck are we doing?"

"The information I gathered from the leads you supplied, did contribute to the arrest of PARIAH cell members. That part of my mission is over, but intelligence suggests there is an underlying threat which was using PARIAH as a scape goat. I wont disclose intelligence over an unsecure line, but I'll go after them next. "and a slight pause, for a breath."Its only wierd because you haven't been here before."

"I think you should've gone after them first, signor," the younger man answers, but there's a lack of real censure in his voice. It isn't Teo's business. He's pretty good at minding his own business until he's throwing himself on the metaphorical bomb because it's the right thing to do. "You haven't either. Unless you were lying about never having being friends with fucking terrorists before." His fingers curl across the mouthpiece, an audible scrape of blunt nails on perforated plastic. "Can I talk to him?" he asks, finally.'

Christian smirks softly. "I know where I'm going, and I've delt with feds before. Sides, PARIAH had to be first priority because thats what the orders were. They were the most visible. Yes, you can talk to him at a later date but he isn't here right now. I'll set up a secure line for you two at a later date."he pauses to clear his throat. "Anyway, I got your steak in the fridge. You want me to swing by later, I got some stuff to give you. Some radio stuff, and then something I was saving for your best friend in the FBI. It's only right you get it in his place."

"I'm better at shit in person," Teo hedges in a tone of voice that could probably construed as shy if he weren't talking about meeting a theoretically dead agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "We've seen each others' faces anyway. I'm not trying to be a heel, I swear. But would that be possible?"

Christian raises a brow. "Yes, but at a later date. He needs to be debriefed, and we need to figure out whats going on with his cover. I will arrange for you to meet him, but it will not be immediately."he ponders, rubbing his chin. "You will get to have words with him no matter his feelings on the subject however, because I say it will be so. Anyway I need to finish what I'm doing, cool if I drop by later with a nukable steak and an early Christmas present?"

"Whenever you guys want. I need to offer him something. I think. It's about that — his cover. I should probably check with some people first. Uhhh, if I could make that vaguer I would," there's an audible grin, abashed. The phone shifts again as Teo glances up at the ceiling. "Tonight is bad. I'll give you a call soon though. This number, yeah?" A new one.

Christian frowns softly. "Yeah thats cool, Median has my packet key if this phone goes bogus. Thats the most reliable way, anyway see ya 'round, bud. Keep your powder dry and alla that jazz." Click…


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December 17th: Fucking Antarctica
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December 17th: Finder's Fee
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