[psl] Tex & Connie Espionage AU

[a_shadow]

Timeline • Tex finds Connie's dog tags in her locker • Scrapyard mission • Connie approaches Wash

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[a_shadow]

"Yes, we," Tex says, stepping out of the shadows.

[liesdontfindyou]

The two guards automatically go for sidearms they're no longer in possession of and the leader raises his newly acquired rifle.

Another hologram appears in front of him, faster than Connie could move, and it makes his aim falter long enough for Connie to wrench it back out of his hands.

"Who is this?" the leader snaps, as Connie steps up to stand between him and Tex herself. Her steps seem a little shakier. "You're bringing other Freelancers here now?"

"Yes, I am," Connie says. She pulls out the data and tosses it over; he barely catches it. "She's an ally. You remember me telling you about Texas?"

"...the AI woman?"

Connie stares at him. "Really? What if she hadn't already known, Jarret?"

[a_shadow]

Tex does know, of course. She knows it more than she knows anything else in life, at this point. So that comment shouldn't bother her.

It does, though.

She steps into the room with Connie and draws up to her side.

"Be careful what you say about other people," she says. "But yes, she showed me. I know."

[liesdontfindyou]

Jarret looks between them, his expression lost under his visor. After a long moment of silence, he settles his gaze on Connie.

"How do you know you can trust her?"

"She came to me. You have to trust me to have made the right judgement call. If she was anything but trustworthy, I'd probably be dead right now," Connie says, frankly.

She's come close enough times lately, so she'd be lying if she said that the possibility of the tags on Tex's locker backfiring hadn't crossed her mind before Tex approached her.

"We're not here to argue with you. I'm here to hand over the data to you and then, once you've checked it, we're leaving."

That piques his interest. "You think you can go back safely after disobeying direct orders and abandoning your squad?"

[a_shadow]

"We'll come up with some story," Tex says dismissively. "From what I'm hearing on the radios, everything out there is utter chaos anyway. It won't be hard to believe we got separated from the rest."

[liesdontfindyou]

"Maybe, maybe not," Jarret says with a shrug. His next question is directed towards Tex: "Did she tell you she almost got caught barely a month ago? She's on thin ice."

Connie's jaw tightens. "That's part of why Tex is here. If I'm with her, it doesn't look like I just took off on my own."

"I wasn't talking to you, Connie."

[a_shadow]

"She didn't, but she didn't need to," Tex says, insistent on keeping a unified front for now. They can discuss that privately later. "Either way, we need to get back quick here."

[liesdontfindyou]

"Check the drive and then we'll leave," Connie says, rubbing her kevlar-clad fingers against her palm. There's no scar to pick through it, but the friction is soothing.

Maybe this was a mistake, after all.

Jarret shakes his head and turns to the still functioning terminals that line the wall of the bridge and inserts the drive.

"What's new?" Jarret asks.

"They're speeding up production. The new AI was split off earlier than he usually would be. Otherwise... the biggest development is Tex."

"Alright." He scans over the data in silence before ejecting it. "This is the last chance we might have to bail you out, Connie. Think about your options."

He holds out a hand to her.

Connie straightens her back and stands her ground. "I'm going back. This isn't negotiable."

[a_shadow]

"Come on," Tex urges. She's checked into the Freelancer radios again. They've launched into space using their jet packs. "They're coming."

[liesdontfindyou]

Jarret continues to hold out his hand, but Connie ignores it and nods at Tex, turning to leave with her. She wants out of here, now.

That's when he grabs her around the wrist with force and tugs her back to face him.

"You're making a mistake, Connie, and you know it."

[a_shadow]

Tex whips out her pistol.

"Let go of her before I make you regret it."

[liesdontfindyou]

Jarret stares at her, down the barrel of the gun, for a straight second before he actually lets go, but he does. He drops her arm and stands back, not holding up his hands but surrendering nonetheless.

Connie retreats quickly behind Tex, though she almost stumbles over her own feet. Her head is spinning and she can smell iron beneath her nose.

Maybe using her unit twice in an unfamiliar environment wasn't her best choice.

[a_shadow]

Tex backs out of the bridge, still holding her weapon on the leader, until she reaches the door. At that point she turns to follow Connie back.

[liesdontfindyou]

Thankfully, he has the sense to stay where he is.

Connie strides just ahead of Tex until one of her knees gives out under her and she has to brace herself against one of the ship's walls and fully engage her grav boots to stop herself falling, her head spinning faster and faster.

If she was in atmosphere, she'd be wrenching off her helmet, but unfortunately the ship has no air to speak of and whilst exposing herself to the vacuum of space would certainly still her mind, it wouldn't be in any way she'd appreciate.

[a_shadow]

Tex puts a hand on Connie's shoulder.

"You okay?"

She's obviously not, but at this point they can't take much time for Connie to be sick.

[liesdontfindyou]

"I'm fine," she lies. "This happens sometimes. Unit use, no AI, my brain's not really built for it. I just need a second."

She forces it to only be a second, steeling herself and swallowing down the brewing nausea. The hand on her shoulder is grounding.

Her wrist throbs, slightly, even though Jarret's grip wasn't strong enough to hurt.

"Thanks for the help back there," she says when she stands straight again. She's ready to move, or at least as ready as she's going to be.

[a_shadow]

Tex can see through the lie, but she doesn't say anything. That can come later. After Connie straightens she lowers her hands to her side.

"Yeah, no problem," she says in response to the thanks. "Guy seemed to think he was in charge of you."

They're back to the airlock where she had slipped in and she climbs into it, preparing her jetpack.

[liesdontfindyou]

“He’s thinks he knows better than I do, even though I’ve done this before,” Connie sighs, climbing back through with her and preparing her own pack. “I’m also pretty sure he has a thing for me. Which doesn’t help matters.”

[a_shadow]

Tex nods, facing the outer hatch.

"All right, cover story. I picked up a distress signal of some kind from you." It couldn't be something transmitted, though, since they'd check their records for that. She pauses. "Using your signal light. There has to be some reason you didn't broadcast it."

[liesdontfindyou]

“Interference caused by something in the scrap?” Connie suggests. “These jetpacks have a high malfunction rate, I could say I got thrown off course and couldn’t make my way back safely without assistance.”

[a_shadow]

"Perfect," Tex says.

The hatch opens the rest of the way then and Tex takes off. There's still a straggling Pelican behind the ship and Tex takes to the radio to signal it.

"Pilot of 256er," Tex calls through the radio. "Two to board. Drop your hatch."

[liesdontfindyou]

Taking off into open space is disorienting, with her head in the state it’s in, but Connie knows that if she doesn’t focus and stay on course then the cover story will become a reality.

So she launches after Texas and follows her lead towards the ship, sticking as close as is safe. It keeps up the appearance of her needing assistance, at least.

Connie’s never been quite so relieved to get her feet back on the solid surface of a Pelican’s blood tray.

[a_shadow]

Tex doesn't strap in after boarding. She approaches the door of the cockpit, watches the progress of the Pelican through the viewport for a moment, then sits in the copilot's seat. She takes the seat with enough ease that it should be obvious this is where she's used to sitting.

Soon enough the ship has alighted in the freighter and the hatch is dropped. Pelican 479er is right behind them and it lands with a screech as a bomb lights the reaches of space behind them.

Tex gets out of the copilot's seat and gestures to Connie quietly. Let's book it before the Alpha Squad manages to get off their ship, she is implying. She wants to get this debriefing over with.

[liesdontfindyou]

Connie spends the ride strapped into one of the harnesses, not trusting herself to stay upright, but she understands the gesture easily enough and nods, releasing herself.

She’s steadier on her feet now they’re back in a more stable artificial gravity and atmosphere, she can keep pace with Texas. Still, she can’t help but cast a glance back at the other Pelican as they go.

[determinist]

The Director is standing very erect in the briefing room when they enter, hands clasped behind his back. Neither of them had broadcasted much about their positions or what they were doing, which displeases him greatly. It also bugs him that Texas and Connecticut arrive separately from the rest of the team—Connecticut had deployed with the team, and Texas had never been deployed at all.

He glares at the two of them until the rest of the team clomps in, lining up around the projection table. Maybe he should have had the rest of the team blocked from entering until he'd debriefed Texas and Connecticut alone, but it's too late now.

"The number one question on my agenda," he begins with some anger in his tone, "is what happened to Agent Connecticut during this mission."

Connecticut had been considered the misfit for a little while, and this feeling had only grown in him with the failure of her last mission. How is she going to explain this one?