[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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[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?

[liesdontfindyou]

Connie stands perfectly at attention, back straight, head tilted slightly up, her breathing made even. She's lied her way out of problems before, this is nothing new to her, but with every lie the foundations of her position in the Project have crumbled a little more.

"My jetpack malfunctioned and I was thrown off course, sir. I was worried that if I tried to correct my course or make my way back alone, I'd only drift further out," she says.

She shudders internally. It had happened before. Poor Georgia. She can't even imagine.

[determinist]

"Malfunctioned?" he asks with some sarcasm. "Indeed. And how did you come to arrive with Agent Texas?" he continues, looking at the agent in question now.

[a_shadow]

"She used her signal light because she was too close to the main hangar to use her radio," Tex explains. "I saw her signal and came to her aid."

[liesdontfindyou]

"The others were occupied inside the hangar," Connie says. "They hadn't noticed I'd gone missing yet. Once Agent Texas found me we were able to make our way back to a Pelican safely."

She can feel some of the other agents side-eyeing her, but she's used to that too. She's always drawn attention in briefings with her questions, mistakes or disobedience.

[determinist]

"Hmph," he mutters, then speaks more loudly: "Unfortunately, Agent Connecticut, your jetpack 'malfunction' will cause your scores to drop."

Meaning her place on the leaderboard will slide one or two points. He signals to the Counselor to take this into account; the leaderboard briefly shows the positions from 9-16, and Connecticut's name slides two places down, placing her beneath Florida and Montana. Neither of which have even been on any missions so far.

"Now, Agent Carolina," he says, turning to the mission leader. He proceeds with the briefing as usual, and Carolina reports the difficulties they had with various aspects of the mission. The scores of the agents on this mission besides Connecticut don't change significantly enough to shuffle the top 8 positions on the leaderboard, it turns out. After everyone's assured of their positions he dismisses the squad and he turns around to look at the viewscreen on the wall.

[liesdontfindyou]

Connie bites her tongue and stands a little straighter, through the rest of the debriefing, almost uncomfortably so. Her actual numbers haven't mattered to her for a long time; the board is a system of manipulation like anything else in the Project, she knows her worth isn't in the numbers.

Yet this time, the sting is sharper than usual. What does that mean for her future among the team?

When they're dismissed, she freezes in the hall outside for a second, looking a little lost.

[howkickassiam]

"Hey, there, CT," York says when he sees her. She looks dejected and out of sorts. He understands; he'd been blasted into space himself on this mission. "Want to go to the mess and have some chocolate pudding? My treat." Meaning—he can get into the supplies that are locked already for the night.

[liesdontfindyou]

She instinctively looks around for Tex, there's a lot to talk about, that she knows, but she also knows there's no talking to her during active hours.

It almost seems to take Connie a moment to register his voice, but when she does she looks up at him and says, "Hey, York. That... that sounds pretty good right about now, actually."

[howkickassiam]

York grins and nods toward the locker room.

"Last one out of the shower is a rotten egg?"

[liesdontfindyou]

That pries out a genuine, if exhausted, smile and she nods, "Hope you're prepared to be the rotten egg."

It's actually tough to make herself take a more utilitarian shower, when all she wants to do is stand under the water until her skin is slightly numb, but in that sense the motivation to do so is a good thing. And, short or not, she does feel a little better after, anyway.

[howkickassiam]

York has shorter hair than Connie, but only just, and he uses a lot more product. So her prediction comes true, it turns out.

And besides, maybe he didn't mind letting it happen that way. Connie obviously needs some cheering.

"All right, champ," he says encouragingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder after they're both dressed. "A pudding delight extravaganza awaits."

He says it quietly enough for Wash not to hear. Wash isn't a tattle-tale, but he would probably protest if he realized what York is planning.