[Deleted]

WORDS: 730

TAGS:  Alice Morrow

Water splashed over her face from the running faucet below. Her hands rubbed along her cheeks and eyes before setting on either side of the sink and lifting her head to face the mirror in her bathroom. She was up a couple of hours early, but extra preparation never hurt anyone. Dr. Newton had been forced to lighten up on conducting his experimental stress-test researching with her the past couple of months in exchange for her time spent dedicated to a federal initiative. Actual work. Work that would help people. It wasn't where she'd seen herself a few years ago and it wasn't what she'd particularly wanted to do either, but at least now her talents were being used for the greater good; the ability to sketch details from her memory to be some kind of human security camera. Maybe without her other 'gifted abilities' she'd be drawing skylines and city streets, people feeding pigeons, stupid shots of feet in the sand... but she wasn't. She was here. At least she'd settled into the position and was now being trusted with larger assignments now that her past performances and efforts were being noticed.

This was her third briefing that she'd be participating in. Thankfully with two already under her belt it was easier to know what to expect and how to prepare. After her usual morning regiment of brewing a pot of fresh tea, taking a shower, measuring out her vitamins, and getting dressed she spent her few free hours spreading out every sketch and written report along the widest part of her empty floor. Sitting cross-legged in front of them, she went over their orders in her mind, pulling out and reorganizing what she thought necessary. Everything was in order, sleek, revised and perfected to the best of her ability. When that was finished, she lied on her back on the sofa and shut her eyes to mentally recount the steps of the "target area" she'd spent the better part of eight weeks investigating. The alarm on her wristwatch buzzed, giving a soft trill of beeps until she lifted it above her face and swiped the reminder away.

With the portfolio stashed in the fold of her arm, she exited the personal apartment within the research facility and began to make her trek across the business park towards a recently built federal building that housed joint efforts of metahuman agents alongside the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security. It took a handful of minutes for the security checks, stepping through gates and scanning badges through locked doors, but she'd arrived a good twenty minutes early into the briefing room. First thing was first, she walked to the side of the room to a panel of controls and held down a button for the automated shades to draw down over the windows for privacy. Next, she turned the monitor on for whichever Director would need it upon arrival. Finally, she sat at one of the corner seats closest to the screen with her portfolio on the table in front of her and hands folded on top of it.

With a deep breath, Claire watched the clock tick by until the door opened for the next team member to arrive. "Ah, Agent Elliott. Pleasure as always," a grayed and wrinkled man stepped slowly in, careful of his own balance, and extended a waiting hand to her. She stood and bridged the gap between them with a long step and a lean, accepting the hand. "Agent Rouse, likewise," she nodded, offering the older gentleman a small smirk. Counter-Intelligence Senior Agent Henrik Rouse, just as kind as his wrinkly smiling eyes appeared to be and twice as intelligent as most human beings on the planet. She liked him. He respected her as an agent, a co-worker. Not a meta."You're here awful early." "I can't have you taking all the early bird specials," Claire dared to tease with a wry smirk as she sat back down. Rouse gave a hearty chuckle, taking the seat across from her. "Ohhh, she's a clever one!" He sat down a folder of his own, opening it to begin a quick review of his work as the two waited in a friendly silence for the Director, the record keeper/secretary, and the assigned Field Agent that would be acting on the mission.

NOTES: Wearing. This was a long intro because of the setup XD. Feel free to introduce the other NPCs as you see fit.

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Claire Elliot

Alice was in plain clothes for the briefing, black jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie. It was about as smart as she normally dressed. She didn't even own a suit, although walking into the building had definitely made her wish that she did. Nothing she did normally required her wear smart dress, the closest she came to that was during public appearances, and her costume filled that particular hole in her wardrobe. It was the same for work, she just wore the costume. Even official occasions just required her to show up in costume. She was momentarily relieved to see at least one other person in something that was not a suit, before she realised that it was not such a good thing. The man in question was being escorted into a room with a large mirror on the wall. As the door closed behind him she caught the glint of handcuffs about his wrists. Was that what she looked like in here? Like someone who would be leaving in the back of a prison van? Another group of people dressed in dark suits passed, although this time only one of them gave her a sideways glance. A man, who seemed just as perplexed at why a nineteen-year-old might be wandering around this building as to why she wasn't in a suit. It wasn't until his eyes lit upon the plastic covered badge clipped to her neckline that he looked away, evidently satisfied that she wasn't attempting some kind of daring heist. She almost wished she'd come in costume. That would have drawn looks too, but at least they wouldn't have been the suspicious ones she had garnered thus far. The man that was escorting her noticed her discomfort. "Don't worry, once you've been in and out a few times people will get used to seeing you." He was young, though still several years her senior, and carrying a briefcase with peeling fake leather on one corner of it. He'd met her after security, a tedious affair of badge scanning, facial ID systems and metal detectors before they'd let her through. He'd made a comment about her not needing a gun in here anyway, not with who she was, and she'd smiled uncomfortably. He behaved in an odd way about her, not one that suggested he was a fan, or in awe, but one that suggested he was slightly uncomfortable with her presence. Like she didn't quite belong. Maybe he was right, this wasn't the kind of thing she'd signed up for. Eventually they seemed to arrive, and the Josh, for he'd introduced himself at the front desk, raised a hand to greet an older woman who was coming the other way. She was tall, heavy set, and walked in such a way that suggested she was ready to pull a gun at any moment. Alice liked her in a way that she didn't like Josh however. The way she greeted her, stiff and formal, nonetheless felt like the way the woman greeted everyone. "Miss Morrow, I am Director Chavez, it's a pleasure to meet you." "And you Director." The woman nodded, once again stiffly, then opened the door they were stood behind, showing the two of them into a briefing room. It was lit only by harsh white halogens, the windows covered by heavy dark blinds. Alice wished they weren't, maybe if she could see the outside she wouldn't feel so claustrophobic. This was starting to feel like one of the occasional meetings that would occur in the foster homes offices when she'd done something wrong or another family just hadn't quite clicked. She looked around the room as the Director introduced the two people already here, not really taking them in. It looked exactly like she'd expected a briefing room to look like. Slightly soulless, like it was waiting for someone with personality to take up residence. Finally she focused on the two people already there, the clearly older man, Agent Rouse, and Agent Elliott. Relief bloomed as she realised that at least Agent Elliott wasn't dressed in a suit. Maybe that was why she seemed so different to everyone else. Though Alice was sure that she knew her from somewhere. "Hi… ummm… everyone…"

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[Deleted]

WORDS: 850

TAGS:  Alice Morrow

The silence wasn't uncomfortable by any means. Both Claire and Agent Rouse were of the like mind that work could get done with empty space in-between two proximate people without conversation and feel perfectly natural. Neither felt obligated to start small talk for no reason. She'd pulled out a slender surface laptop from her leather portfolio as well as a pad of paper and a pen. All of her resources were pushed to her left, the pad at her right, and the thin laptop in front for note-taking and keeping track of where they were on their agenda. Rouse lifted an arm to bend his sleeve down, curling his wrist towards himself to catch the exposed watch on his wrist and check the time. Any minute now. "What was this morning's brew, Miss Elliott? Anything new?" A humored huff escaped her nose as she finished typing up a sentence, looking over the brim of the laptop over to the older gentleman. "No, nothing new." "Well hop to it, girl, I bought the last two you recommended. Need something fresh." "Noted, noted," her smile stretched a bit, showing a few teeth briefly before the door opened to reveal Director Chavez.

Unlike Agent Rouse, Director Chavez had little-to-no room for humor or pleasantries. Claire could hardly blame her given her position. The woman was highly regarded and known most certainly for one thing, if anything: getting the job done. She hadn't seen the record keeper before, but they'd been different each time she'd done a briefing. None spoke unless it was a "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" to being asked to take specific note of something as they sat at the end of the table or the corner of the room with a computer. Returning to resuming her work on the laptop - heading her document for the briefing specifically and responding to an email - Claire allowed the Director to begin introductions in any way she saw fit to the record keeper and the field agent that had more than likely entered behind them.

When her name was called to introduce, she looked up habitually to the small team with a half-smirk and meant to look back down to finish her sentence... but pulled her eyes back up to an unmistakable head of light blue hair. Alice Morrow. The city's- no, the nation's beloved "Paladin". Her face was everywhere, reminding, prodding, mocking. They met eyes and all Claire could do was stare back at her; hardly the image of what she was normally known for now in this professional setting. Her hair was pulled back into a professional bun, she wore no jewelry or piercings, only a nice white blouse under a black blazer. The only tattoos that were visible peaked barely at the sides of her lower neck beyond her collar. Even the way she'd done her makeup attempted to hide the now-natural blue tint to her skin with warmer colors. She wasn't 'her'. If it were even possible, she was paler and had gotten thinner.

But Alice? Alice looked incredible. She was healthy, fit, stood taller, and clearly dressed however she pleased. Alice had become the person she always wanted to be, taken the life she'd dreamed about. Mental skeleton thoughts began to scratch at the closet in her mind.

You have the world.

He lost everything, you gained everything.

I tried to protect you. You didn't trust me.

You didn't trust any of us.

You wanted to play comic book hero.

You didn't listen.

I couldn't keep everyone safe.

I couldn't see him. You couldn't see him.

What were you thinking?

Life isn't a game. Life isn't your game.

You're too young.

You were so naive.

You're a child.

You didn't understand the weight.

He lost everything.

Look at your life now. Look how worshiped you are.

No one remembers him. No one will know.

Are you happy?

Do you care that I'm a ghost?

Do you care that you took down two lives for your own?

Do you care that you killed him?

Would you even change it if you could?

You gained everything.

"Let's have a seat and get started then." Claire blinked and caught herself out of the stare, looking back down to her work to try and remember where her train of thought had been previously. She just needed to focus. It was work. It was her job. She'd done these before, she could do it again... same as it always was. Then they could go their separate ways and that'd be the end of it. "Agent Rouse, if you could?" "Right." He picked up a pointer remote from the center of the table, clicking a button and turning his attention to the screen at the front of the room to Claire's left. "Director, Miss Morrow, if we could start at page three of the reports in front of you-," She knew she needed to scroll down, knew she needed to pull herself together, but her hand hovered over the track pad until she was finally able to swallow the lump in her throat and build some resolve, pulling the proper page up to follow along.

NOTES: Wearing. Feel free to sit wherever you'd like/have Rouse begin the explanation in any way you choose xD.

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Claire Elliot

Realising that it was now her cue to take a seat, Alice did so, inspecting the tablet that had been placed in front of what she could only guess was her seat. She started looking through, glancing up only once to catch the female agent, Elliott, staring at her. Maybe it was the same thing as Josh? Did she feel uncomfortable with a meta in the room perhaps. Or maybe she was a fan, Alice couldn't place it, but she had a nagging sensation that she had met this woman before. At least she was distracted from that particular train of thought by the beginning of the briefing. Agent Rouse, the older man, drew their attention to the large screen at the front of the room, displaying an aerial photograph of what looked like an old industrial site. There were several large buildings, two of them connected by an external corridor. It didn't look in particularly bad repair, at least not judging by the satellite photos, and closer range photos that Rouse flicked through. Rouse explained. "The whole site is registered to a dummy corporation by the name of Gregor Holdings, a shelf company that supposedly deals in various wholesale imports. Any records associated with the business are vague at best, and sketchy at worst. However, three phone calls were made on the morning of the attacks, all of them with Shaw & Pearce, the very same office that was attacked." Alice scrolled down to another page, this one displaying the dates and times of those phone calls, although other information was suspiciously absent. Rouse continued "This might be a tenuous link but with how limited our leads have been we've had to start getting creative." Alice hasn't had much trouble following along so far. She's had briefings with the Program before, but never been officially called upon for an assignment like this. She'd been quite excited for it, then momentarily concerned at the amount of information that seemed to be being thrown at her. Fortunately Rouse wasn't going too fast, perhaps out of deference to her relative inexperience in this setting. "The problem, of course, is if this is directly linked to the attacks, they could have metahumans in there. The numbers of the group seem to be relatively limited, especially since we captured several of their members. That means there shouldn't be too much in terms of potential hostiles. Nonetheless, we needed a Hero to ensure we had someone who was prepared to deal with anything that might be thrown at them." He turned towards the dark haired woman, Agent Elliott, and Alice looked at her two. At least she wasn't staring any more. "Agent Elliott has more information in terms of inhabitants and the interiors of the buildings." Smiling, Alice turned her attention to the young woman.

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[Deleted]

WORDS: 830

TAGS:  Alice Morrow

Calm. She let Rouse talk, focusing on her breathing and pushing the image of Alice out of her mind. It was just another Field Agent. Just another task at work. She'd done this plenty, she could do it again. It took Claire long enough to respond to Agent Rouse's introduction that it earned a brief, impatient glint from the Director and a curious brow-raise from her older friend. Quick to recover, the pale woman cleared her throat and pointed her attention to Director Chavez rather than the blue-haired hero. "Local authorities wanted in to investigate but didn't have enough evidence on suspicion of misdealing for a search warrant. At least not immediately. Federal agencies caught eye of the information on the connection and lifted concerns that time was of the essence; since dummy corporations like these move physical sites often after filing for title changes."

The longer she went the easier it became, especially when pretending that only three people, Chavez, Rouse, and herself, were in the room while completely ignoring the record-keeper and field agent. "We called on the SFPD for assistance in getting a closer look, but with the recent attacks they're both too thinly-spread and concerned for officer safety in regards to any potential meta-criminal involvement." "Thankfully we've quite the unique talent on our team," the elderly man smiled with wrinkled eyes over to the more moderately-dressed agent. It helped her maintain her composure as he took a brief moment to add in a little note. "I'd worked with Agent Elliot before on a case behind-the-lines to get some more 'stubborn' intel and knew she'd be able to supply an eye-witness testimony for evidence enough - if there existed any - to get a legal warrant. And sure enough-," he lifted a hand over to her, passing the conversations' lead yet again.

"My set of abilities made it possible for me to patrol the outsides without breaching any private boundaries; legal distance, but closer than we could get any police commissioner to agree to. While the security measures on the parameter alone were enough to raise concerns, I witnessed a shift change in security at the only accessible gate and saw the inside of the security toll briefly through the open door. At least three, maybe four or five, heavy automatic firearms lined the wall in orderly fashion. I took the time to memorize the details," she motioned a hand casually to Henrik Rouse who then switched the slides; a sketch of Claire's alongside an actual model of the identified weaponry; very clearly identical. "M4A1's," Chavez loosely crossed her arms over her chest with lips firm. "Past the point that automatic military firearms are illegal for civilian ownership or corporations with even harsher restrictions in the city, these are brand new. Not newly manufactured," Rouse turned to the director and hero both, "the US Military only recently designed these models to fit for standard use. New."

"Not to discredit you, Agent. But we're positive this class of M4A1 isn't an older, semi-automatic type? The visual details are incredibly easily mistaken. Especially from however great a distance you were." The taller woman gave no room for a less-than-confident answer as demanding eyes turned to Claire. Henrik also looked over, the room waiting on her response. "With all due respect, Director..." Claire took a breath to steady her statement, "attention to detail is what I do," she gave one, single, slow nod. "I spent the course of a week returning at the same time of day to ensure every inch matched. Agent Rouse was the identifier of the firearm after my sketch was complete." It further cemented why the Joint Task Forces had called the need for the Hero Program. It was either one of them or multiple squadrons of National Guard. Frankly, they were needed on-call in case of another attack rather than investigating a could-be.

The Director flipped a few pages ahead in the portfolio to see blueprints and sketches both, eyeing certain details and labelled classifications, and then folded her hands together on the table. "I will make myself very clear for you, Miss Morrow," her back straightened and it immediately drew the attention of the room to a command to listen. "The details of this mission will only grow in danger and sensitivity. Before we go on, you need to know the risks. There is a near-guarantee that you will meet active-fire resistance should you be discovered and I cannot promise the lack of counter-meta presence. If you wish to decline and rethink your involvement, now is the time." Thankfully all eyes were no longer on Claire. Instead, they were to the blue-haired young hero. Even the record keeper seemed anxious to hear an answer. The only one not staring her down was Claire... actively keeping her attention away and down at the portfolio of information in front of her instead.

NOTES: Let me know if I missed anything or confused something somewhere, it's been a hot minute.

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Claire Elliot

Agent Elliott immediately began speaking to Director Chavez, focusing her attention on the heavyset Latino to the exclusion of Alice. It seemed odd to the blue haired teen, considering the nature of the briefing. Nonetheless, she did her best to follow along with the information the woman was sharing and ignored the nagging feeling that she knew Elliott from somewhere. As the briefing went on Alice began to get the distinct impression that the pale woman didn't like her. Her dark eyes seemed to flick between Chavez and Rouse, never once glancing over to her. Alice wasn't even slightly egotistical, but she could tell when someone was trying not to look at her. Things got more confusing as the older agent described the younger woman as a 'unique talent'. What did that mean? Alice could feel her minds fingertips brushing the edge of what might be an answer, but they were pulled away as she made sure to follow the briefing, flicking through the sketched image placed parallel to a photograph of the same rifle. Looking closely, it was obvious that the two weapons were the same. Alice tended to treat any opponent with a firearm as a threat to civilians, if not to her, so she didn't have the expertise to immediately identify the difference. As she continued to gaze at them though, the differences became clear. They were different to the sorts of weapons she more normally encountered. She didn't comment, however. She was easily the least experienced person in this room, except maybe the record-keeper, but he had at least been through college. Eventually it seemed that the Director was confident enough in Agent Elliott's assessment, and Alice reluctantly dragged her attention away from her as Chavez turned in her direction. It would have been hard not to look at the older woman, she had the kind of presence that instantly commanded attention. Her words were clear. This operation would be dangerous, the conventional firepower on display only proved that. She wondered just how Agent Elliott had managed to get the information she had, surely if she could get close enough for it they didn't need someone like Alice? The blue-haired teen shook her head without a moment's hesitation. "Thank you… uh… Director, but I don't need to rethink anything." Alice was under no mistaken impressions as to why she was here. There were plenty of Heroes you could call for stealth missions, but Paladin was a blunt force. She might possess some skills in stealth, but ultimately she did one thing, and she did it well. She hit things. She couldn't have imagined they'd called her in if they didn't think it necessary. "I can handle anything conventional they throw at me, and it won't be the first time I've gone in blind against a meta." It wouldn't even be the tenth time. All too often metahumans appeared and started laying about with a power that was hard to predict. Some even had secondary powers hidden away that were just as, if not more dangerous. "It's better you send in someone like me that can take that risk and still have a fighting chance than someone who might get clipped by a stray bullet." She looked across the group as she spoke, feeling awkward to be the centre of attention in such a professional environment. Strangely, that drew her gaze all the more inexorably to the woman sitting opposite her and steadfastly staring down at the portfolio in front of her. Agent Elliott's gaze was stubbornly resting on that information, but Alice didn't get the impression that it was because there was something particularly interesting there. Her long fingers weren't even moving, simply resting on the pages. The woman's earlier movement against the table had pushed up her sleeves a little, revealing faintly blue-tinged skin and the edge of a tattoo. Blue tinged skin. Tattoos. Black hair. Almost imperceptible marks where there once might have been piercings. Alice's jaw dropped. "Claire?"

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[NoSuchThing]

Claire Elliot

[Claire Elliot]

NOTES: I don't count words anymore cuz pressure!

TAGS:  Alice Morrow

Of course she didn't need to rethink anything. She was the hero of heroes. Though the Director and Agent Rouse took the younger girl's responses for what they were, reassurances, Claire felt each one with a sting of overeager, reckless, cocky bragging. "Well, looks like she's our gal," the older man clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and clicked a pen, jotting down a few quick notes onto the thin notebook he'd brought in front of him. "We'll move to theories on funding and the interior next then." He gave a lift of his chin over to Claire who for now seemed happy to keep moving forward. The more they spoke, the quicker they'd get to the end and she could get a new case on her desk.

"Claire?"

Everyone stopped. Not just Claire, not just Rouse. The Director and the record keeper too. Their looks were mixed. The record keeper was confused and interested, Chavez seemed confused herself with a natural tint of irritation, and Rouse looked almost apologetic. He'd known something was off with Claire, it wasn't his first time around the block. This obviously had a part to play in it. This wasn't the time and place to lose her mind and this new position that gave her more freedom of movement and independence, so with a heavy swallow, a quick lift of her eyes up and over to the old ghost of a girl only to look back down at the reports, she responded with a flat and plain,

"Alice."

Chavez pursed her lips and pulled her brows together, arms folding loose across her chest and most of her weight shifting to a single hip. "This had better not be an problem. Is this going to be a problem, Agent Elliot? Miss Morrow?" "No ma'am, Director," her head lifted, giving a professionally cold nod up to the woman, "I'm here to do my work and do it well."

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Claire Elliot

The flat response hits like a physical blow. Alice considers Claire a friend, had pretty much since they had first met in that hospital room after the accident. Sure the older woman had always been quiet and reserved, but never unpleasant. They'd lost touch over the last few years, Alice had been busy with the Program, as had Claire, but Alice still thinks of them as friends. At least she did. The hurt clear on her face, Alice sits back, staring at her knees. Her youth is, for a moment, more apparent than ever. It's true that the last time they had properly talked had been before... Before Mason had died... Is that what this is about? Claire had been closer to the invisible man than any of them. Is she still grieving for him? Alice had grieved too. She'd been there, seen Mason take a bullet for her, a bullet she'd learned, just seconds later, couldn't have hurt her. That had been hard, trying to accept that his sacrifice hadn't been pointless. Really, she hasn't accepted it even now. It's a recurring nightmare. It takes Alice a moment to realise that she has been asked a question. She looks up, catching Claire in the corner of her vision. She looks away, in the direction the question has come from. "No Director, there won't be any problem." Alice isn't sure what is going on with Claire, but she's been asked to support this mission because her doing so will save lives. With only a brief glance in Claire's direction, she turns her attention back to the portfolio in front of her, flicking through it in a display of sudden interest. "Just an old friend, sorry." There's a tinge of regret to Alice's words, though she doesn't know why. It seems Claire is angry with her for some reason, because they haven't talked perhaps? The Director harrumph's, refolding her arms. There is a pause as she deliberates on the nature of this problem. Eventually she comes to some unknown conclusion, immediately made known. "Very well, we will continue the briefing. Agent Elliot being a surveillance asset, it should have little effect on the mission itself." Tightening her jaw, Alice nods and turns to look at the professionally dressed woman across the conference table. She does her best to keep her voice flat and professional, failing miserably at it. "Sorry for interrupting."

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