Rolling her eyes at Kheshig's gestures at the poolhouse's corners, Cecelia smiles at his word fumbling and giggles a little at how much a grown man, an international operative (at this point) no less, can't handle a pair of girls in the hot tub. Yes, they're naked, but why is that always the male focal point? No matter, Kheshig leaves, in a bit of a hurry, and Cecelia re-centers her focus on Condor.
Feeling Condor's foot rising, Cecelia started to take 'playful/cheerful footsie-type thing' off the list, but didn't want to assume too much by taking 'unconscious movement' off the list just yet. The foot in question had gotten very far up her thigh, and Cecelia was starting to question Condor about her foot when it was removed, so Cecelia dropped the whole thought. Though, nothing has even been in that area when not cleaning it for maybe two or three years now. Shrugging off any sexual thoughts, Cecelia nodded in silent agreement with Condor's statement about it being enough for now. "Yeah, too long in here and we'd be pruned for hours, and there's not much that could help us there."
Not expecting the show Condor was giving her, Cecelia's eyes widened a little, with all the water glistening on her as Condor, more or less, showed off everything to her. As for the drink offer, Cecelia nodded as she herself exited the tub, grabbed her swimming equipment and headed back with Condor to their changing room, without bothering to put the swimsuit back on. "I'll just go with you. I don't know what we have here, but if we have the ingredients, I plan to make a Flaming Dr. Pepper. Best mixed drink I've had. Mostly cause it tastes like Dr. Pepper and uses three liquors, so you can get drunk fast and not have it taste super bitter. I usually drink to get drunk, and when I do I usually get quiet and tired. Anyways, it's just kinda hard for me to hit a state of pure drunkenness, because of the psychology I unconsciously use on myself."
Once in the changing room, Cecelia dried off as usual, tossing the towel into the pile of her clothes that need to be washed. Pulling out a sports bra and sweatpants, Cecelia dresses herself in such and looks over at Condor. "So... In the hot tub... Was there any agenda to that foot...? Or conversation...? Cause I'm just now analysing it more in-depth, and it seems like there was a theme of underlying sexual connotations with your body language, foot, and word choices." Her lack of people skills and word choice never fail to make her seem clumsy and unsure of herself. She knew what she was wanting to say, but this time, realizing the possible sexual implications, she got flustered at the thought of someone wanting her in a sexual manner. Or any intimate manner for that matter. She's never found herself attractive, which is why she usually hides in the lab.

"So... In the hot tub... Was there any agenda to that foot...?"

Condor barked out a laugh before clamping her hand over her mouth. Moving up behind Birdseed she let her robe fall open and pressed her naked body against the younger woman, moving against her to make sure Birdseed knew what she was doing. "There was an agenda alright, but first I have a question for you..." Condor's mouth was close to Birdseed's ear, her voice low and breathless as she whispered each word purposefully, "Did you like it?"

As she spoke Condor moved her hands down over Birdseed's body, stroking her fingers over the spots she knew would illicit a response, even if only a mechanically biological one.

Cecelia was surprised by Condor's response. Se hadn't expected any physical response from her teammate. Almost jumping a little from her stroking at first, Cecelia soon let her body enjoy the sensations Condor was giving it. She then blushes after her body shivers out of a combination of anticipation and pleasure. "Well, I guess you can tell my body likes it." Leaning back onto Condor a little and letting her eyes close, Cecelia admits, "I haven't had anyone touch me like this in years. Mostly because I never thought anyone would want to... ya know... do that sort of stuff with me."
Feeling blood rush down between her legs, Cecelia clamped her mouth shut so she didn't make an unsolicited noise that would make her body's responses be more obvious. She put her hands around the back of Condor's shoulders and finally answered the woman's question outright. "I'd have to say that yes, I do like it. Especially because all this stimulation is bringing up biological wants that I don't think I'd be able to fill for myself, being out of practice with myself for about as long as with other people." Cecelia blushed a little at her admittance, but it couldn't be helped. All those years keeping from even stimulating herself were all rushing down there and making her all hot and bothered.

@Dragonite777

"That's good to hear," Condor whispered in Birdseed's ear, suddenly pulling her hands away from the younger woman's body. Without even bothering to fasten up her gown Condor strode through the house until she reached the comms centre, kicking open the door she quickly grabbed one of the radio mics and tuned the set to the overwater frequency they'd been using for this mission.

@Jangel13

"Hey 'Angel, you might want to check out the pool house security footage when you get a chance, then you won't have to guess who just fucked your girlfriend in the hot tub." Without waiting for a response Condor threw the mic down on the desk and spun on her heel, stomping back to the kitchen.

Bending down in front of the fridge Condor pulled a can of beer from the door shelf and quickly cracked it open, draining most of the contents with one long glug before taking a breath and finishing it off with a deeply satisfied sigh. "That'll teach the bitch to ruin my mission." She muttered to herself, reaching down for another beer.

Smoke curled from the point where Kheshig's soldering iron made contact with the two bare wires. He had decided to wile away his time doing some third-party upgrades to Birdseed's remote, both as a peace-offering and also to experiment with some of his newer developments. True, he had not fully tried out every function of the remote, but he was pretty sure that it lacked the ability to remotely wipe a single camera's feed. As it stood, Kheshig only managed to crudely add a directed magnetic field generator, and a weak one at that. As it stood, it could wipe a few minutes off most camera feeds, but anything more would require him to work a miracle first.

He replaced the back casing of the remote, and with uncharacteristic eagerness, left his room and looked for the closest security camera. Once he found one, he stood well in it's field of vision and waved his hand a few times. Then, he pointed the remote at the camera and pressed the button he had welded the generator's circuitry to. Unlike his favoured EMP devices, there were no sparks or sounds from the camera, and in fact it looked as if nothing had happened. That had been intended. EMPs were good, but they left traces of their use.

The only way to find out if it had indeed worked would be to check the camera datalog itself, and so Kheshig's next stop was the security room, or as he preferred to call it, the nerve center of the safehouse. It was, in a way, his pride and joy, even though he had not been the one to build it. It had been there when he arrived, but Kheshig had made a few upgrades of his own to the room. He looked for the camera which he had used earlier and used the console to rewind the footage back a few minutes.

True enough, it played all the way until the point when he just stepped into view of the camera. Then the footage paused for a moment, and when it started playing again, Kheshig had already left for the security room. The test was a success, as far as he was concerned, but he made a note to look into a stronger pulse, to erase even more minutes of footage so that it would not even show the user entering the frame in the first place. He was just about to leave when he noticed the camera placed inside the pool room. It was still frozen, and showed Birdseed and Condor in the midst of whatever they had been doing.

Letting out a long sigh, Kheshig looked around him for a spare external hard drive - he was always leaving those things around, thankfully most of them were heavily encrypted and responded only to systems within the safehouse. He found one lying on the floor near his feet and picked it up. He plugged it into a port on the console and started downloading the day's security footage from all the cameras. Not because of the still, mind you, but because he wanted to have a backup after wiping all the cameras of their footage. He felt pretty certain that Birdseed and Condor would want that to stay private. Also, no one needed to know that he had been testing his devices on the security systems.

Well, maybe not Condor, but Birdseed would. Kheshig and her might not have a good relationship right now, but he was not about to have the safehouse fall into havoc simply because of a leaked still.

One might think that we are still children. He mused and leaned back in his seat while he waited for the transfer to complete. Once that was done, he wiped the entire system with just a few commands entered into the console. The displays all blacked out for a split-second before returning to normal. Kheshig pocketed the hard drive, stood up and walked out of the security room, taking care to shut and lock the door behind him. It was a futile gesture - everyone knew the code to the room, and probably had picked the physical back-up lock multiple times - but it still placed his mind at ease.

His hand reached into his pocket for Birdseed's remote, and for a moment he wondered if he should seek her out to return it. No matter, she can find me once she's done. He decided with a shrug and walked back to his own room. Maybe he could find something else to work into the remote. It still had enough space for additional circuitry. Not much, but Kheshig had done more with less before.

Startled by Condor's sudden movements, Cecelia almost fell. Catching herself, she starts to follow Condor slowly, until she saw her enter comms. Then she just listened. Eyes widened, she heard some of Condor's words she sent to Archangel. Feeling used, she ran back to the changing room and put her heavy sweatshirt atop her sports bra, grabbing a bag of pretzels and soda and retreating to a couch, avoiding eye contact with Condor. So that must've been how I was to pay for my mistake, huh? I'll never let myself get so tangled in such things again. I'll make sure to keep myself well clothed. Even in the hot tub, if I can ever go there again. I'm gonna need a psychiatrist for myself after this. Okay, so you've paid your debt. She shouldn't want more, and I'll just refuse any further advances. Now, I'll just engorge myself for a few minutes and sleep the day away. That should get my mood back up. Well, tomorrow I'll resume my swimming schedule. Swimming calms me down, but I'm too tired from the swimming I just did. Moment of weakness... *mental sigh* I'll avoid those in the future, unless I have to make it happen for a mission.

Elissa couldn’t believe the sight of Patch. He’d beaten himself up, somehow, though she had no idea how. Such wounds threatened to make her faint, though rationally she knew they weren’t serious, just cleverly placed. Still, seeing one of her friends bruised and bleeding was almost enough to push her over the edge.

Focus, Ellie, focus, don’t fall apart or Fox will die or worse. Focus, you idiot girl, or another friend is going to die because of your own ineptitude. Such thoughts tumbled through the small girl’s head as she scrambled for something to say, anything to say.
Well, I can either leave Fox and save the rest of us, which I’d never do, or say something totally incriminating and get the other two let go and myself killed, or just say something to let Archangel know how terribly screwed we are…

She wanted to avert her eyes from the scene before her, Fox bound and gagged and helpless, exactly the way… exactly the way…N-no… Not now, Elissa, n-not now, g-get it together…
Forcing the thought from her mind and the emotion from her face, she looked right at Fox, though she kept her eyes unfocused to avoid really seeing him.

“I don’t know who that is, specifically, but I’ve seen him around town before. Sometimes he comes into the vet clinic that I work at, that’s what I do when I’m not studying and doing deliveries, I’m an intern at Happy Paws Veterinary Clinic.” She let her voice tremble a little from nervousness, not too much but enough to imply that she wasn’t entirely comfortable in this scenario, the way a normal teenaged person would be. She tried to change the subject a little bit, “getting sidetracked” by the very mention of animals. “I don’t remember his name, but I remember his kitties. One’s named Angel, he was the first kitty I ever got to meet, right after I was sent to live in this town—Anyway, One’s named Everett and one’s named Condor… After Condor ate some Birdseed I had to help save her, because kitties can’t eat bird food, and—Oh yeah, that’s his name! Mr. Turpin! Mr. Turpin let me babysit his kitties when he went out of town!” She let out a giggle.

“Answer the questions, and don’t prattle about kitties.”

“R-right. I’m Elissa Tunis. I just finished my senior year at an online school. I needed to make some extra cash to cover my college expenses, so I signed up as a “mercenary deliverygirl”. I didn’t expect to have my delivery blown the first time I ever took something more exciting than a pizza though.” Again she giggled.

Ellie stopped her nonsense babbling, grinning nervously at the guards. She hoped Angel had been listening carefully enough to catch her message, and also that the guards were inattentive enough to have missed it. Angel send Everett Condor Birdseed help save cover blown.

If that failed, she supposed that she might have confused the guards enough with her play at being a nervous, hyperactive teenager, in order to get them all out of here.

"Hey, don't look at me." Patch said raising his hands in front of his chest in a non-threatening manner, "I just get paid to drive the van from A to B." Turning his body from side to side, making all his motions as easy to read as possible to help keep the guards calm Patch studied each of them carefully.

The room they were in looked like some sort of canteen, with tables and chairs set in rows and a shutter window at one end locked up for the night. Seven guards were scattered around, all of them armed and a little twitchy after having found a prowler sneaking around inside the building. The one standing behind Fox seemed to be in charge, he was asking most of the questions at least, while the two over by the set of double doors seemed the most insecure, their body language nervous and a little edgier than the others.

The two down at the other end of the room seemed most relaxed, and one had put his gun down on the table beside him as he chatted with his partner, the only woman in the group. For a moment Patch wondered if the two of them were dating, or at least heavily flirting with each other, and if he could use that somehow, but the other guards didn't seem to care about their attitudes in any way so he doubted the relationship was a sore point for any of the others, not even the two standing directly behind Owl and himself.

"Hey, you know what it's like at the moment, you gotta take the work where you can get it, right?" Reaching up slowly towards his face Patch prodded the side of his face, which was sore and aching from the bruises. "Although I think this'll be my last delivery working for you lot. Any chance of getting that ice I was promised?"

Finishing her second can Condor crushed it between her hands and threw it in the recycling bin before opening the fridge again. There were four cans left hooked together with their plastic rings so she grabbed one of the empty loops and hooked them up over her shoulder, heading back towards her room, not even bothering to look over towards Birdseed as she made her way across the living room and up the stairs.

As she passed @Skythikon Kheshig's room she banged on the door roughly, "Hey Gadget Boy, wanna beer?" SHe called out loudly, pressing her ear to the wood as she tried to hear if he was actually in the room or not. I hope he isn't out tasering rabbits with his death traps or something, she thought to herself as she waited for a response.

"Yeah, sure. One second." Kheshig said loudly in response to Condor. It had only been a few minutes since he had returned to his room, but the lingering stench of burnt solder convinced him that some time away would do him good. Besides, a beer was always welcome, and it gave him a chance to know more about at least one member of his new team. He walked over to his cabinet and opened his closet, pulling out a box that contained several other hard drives. Some of them contained little more than rough schematics, others had complex calculations and simulations. Kheshig chucked the hard drive containing the day's security footage into the box and unceremoniously kicked it back into his closet.

He shut the doors and exited the room, nearly running straight into Condor had he not stopped himself in time. "And I have a name. Two of them, in fact." He said dryly as he shut his door and locked it. "I would not mind joining you for a drink. My room still smells like a workshop, and I could do with some time away from my work, as odd as it may seem for me."

@Genni

"Yeah, sure. One second. And I have a name. Two of them, in fact. I would not mind joining you for a drink. My room still smells like a workshop, and I could do with some time away from my work, as odd as it may seem for me."

"I know you have two names," Condor replied with a smile as she yanked one of the cans from the plastic holder and passed it across to her teammate, "But I didn't think 'Nerd' was appropriate, given the circumstances."

Pulling a can off for herself Condor easily cracked it open with one hand before taking a swig of the hoppy goodness. "Any word on the others yet?" She asked, genuinely concerned. If anything happened to the other team her position could be compromised, and this safe house was the best place she'd stayed in years. She'd hate to have to leave just because someone else screwed up. "I was kinda expecting them to beat us back here."

As she made her way back towards the living room Condor pulled her bathrobe closed and fastened it with the sash around her waist. Birdseed seemed just as upset as she'd been a few moments before, munching down pretzels one after another, so Condor turned and made her way over towards the kitchen where she hoisted herself up onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

"Funny," Kheshig deadpanned and took the can of beer. As he followed Condor through the living room, he could not help but notice Birdseed sitting on the couch and looking rather upset. That certainly confused him; just a few moments ago, she had appeared to be having fun, or at the very least enjoying Condor's company. Kheshig's brow furrowed for a split-second, but his face returned to it's neutral state once he made a note to check up on Birdseed later, maybe when he returned her remote. The last thing Kheshig wanted was for her performance to drop due to some personal issues.

While Condor took her seat at the breakfast bar, Kheshig walked over to the fridge and opened it. I knew no one would touch them. He said to himself with a ghost of a smile as he took out a plate of black jelly cubes. The looked unappetizing, and Kheshig had guessed that that would be enough to dissuade any would-be thieves. He placed the plate on the counter and took a seat opposite Condor. "Grass jelly," He explained. "It is an acquired taste, but I like the cool feeling it leaves in your mouth."

He pulled the tab of his can of beer until he heard a satisfying hiss. "And to answer your question, no, I have not heard from the other team." He said and took a sip. "But I would not be too worried. I hear their route is far more complicated, and they have more to do. Besides, if they are in trouble, we have the car and we have our guns. I would not say no to rescuing them."

He paused and popped one of the jellies into his mouth, chewing it quickly to get past the initial bitter taste. "I hope I am not prying too much, Condor," He began in a quiet voice once he swallowed. "But I was wondering what you were doing with Birdseed when I walked in. She does not look too happy with what happened, from what I can see." He was not expecting a straight answer, but at least he could get an inkling as to what transpired between the two of them.

@Genni

"Grass jelly, It is an acquired taste, but I like the cool feeling it leaves in your mouth."

Seeing Kheshig's snacks Condor reached under the breakfast bar and with a quick tap in just the right place pulled the side panel to one side before reaching for a small package hidden inside. Returning the panel back to its original position she dropped the package on the counter.

"Jelly Donuts," Condor responded pulling one of the sugar-coated treats from the bag and biting into it messily. "I like the sticky feeling they leave on my chin."

Reaching up she caught a blob of jelly which was oozing down over her chin with the back of her hand before licking it clean. Leaning over the counter she grabbed a roll of kitchen towels and ripping a couple off quickly wiped her face before taking another bite.

"I hope I am not prying too much, Condor, But I was wondering what you were doing with Birdseed when I walked in. She does not look too happy with what happened, from what I can see."

Condor chewed on her donut for a moment as she watched Kheshig carefully, considering her reply before swallowing the mouthful down. "Just getting a little payback, teaching Miss Hack-n-Smash what it feels like to be fucked with."

As she waited to see how Kheshig would respond Condor tore into her donut with her fingers, splattering the red jelly over the counter before plopping the treat into her mouth with a grim finality.

"That is an...Interesting way of getting payback." Kheshig remarked. It did not take a genius to realize just how exactly Condor had 'fucked with' Birdseed, and while he found Condor's method to be very creative and amusing, he could not say that he felt rather concerned about the effect it had on Birdseed. She struck him as the awkward sort, just from the way she spoke during the mission, and Kheshig could not see this doing any good for her. "Though you may have created a second me in this team, if not worse." He said, then left it at that. Condor could figure out what he meant.

Looking down at the mess Condor had created with her donut, Kheshig grimaced slightly and stood up to get a a few sheets of paper towels from the kitchen counter. "You eat as if you have holes in your mouth," He said, meaning no offense, as he wiped up her mess and took one of the donuts for himself. He took a bite out of it, then gestured towards Condor's body. "Not going to throw on any clothes?" He asked as he finally realized that she was still wearing a bath robe. The thought of her not wearing underneath anything entered his mind and he could feel his cheeks heat up.

Kheshig looked away and pretended to cough to hide the dead giveaway as to what was involuntarily in his mind. He almost let slip that he would not have really minded if Condor stayed the way she was.

@Genni

"That is an...Interesting way of getting payback. Though you may have created a second me in this team, if not worse. You eat as if you have holes in your mouth, Not going to throw on any clothes?"

Condor shrugged her shoulder at Kheshig's comment on her methods, "We all do what we know, and it wasn't as though I could kill the little tramp, we might still need her down the road. Maybe if she was a little more like you the mission wouldn't have gotten so messy."

Finishing off the last of her donut with a couple of quick bites Condor reached for the kitchen towels she had nearby and wiped her hands clean. She was about to clean the counter when she saw Kheshig had already beaten her to it, so instead scrunched the towels into a ball and pitched them across the room into the garbage can. "I've learnt to eat when I can, life's a little tougher when you're on your own without some huge organisation covering your back every second."

Glancing through the French windows Condor quickly waved her hand around to indicate the house they were using, paying no heed to the way her bathrobe began to pull loose from her belt. "This place is a mansion compared to what I'm used to, especially the pool house," As she remembered the feel of the hot water soaking into her skin Condor reached down and hugged herself, causing the front of her robe to fall open just enough to flash her cleavage. "I could really get used to a home like this, If it weren't for the company."

As she made her barbed comment Condor turned her gaze back out into the living room, where Birdseed was still munching on the pretzels. Condor had a bad feeling about the woman, and she it only made things worse that she couldn't just fix the problem the way she normally would.

Turning her attention back to Kheshig Condor tugged at the hem of her robe, just enough to flash a nipple before letting the fabric fall back into place, "What's wrong, you don't like the way I look?" She asked the tech with a playful smile. "If it's the bathrobe you just have to say the word and I'll happily take it off for you."

Tossing her head back with a laugh Condor quickly drained her beer can, crushed it and toss it into the recycling bin before reaching for another. "You gonna want that?" She asked Kheshig, tapping a nail against the last can on the plastic loop as she cracked open the one she had with her other hand.

Was that a compliment he heard? Well, either way, Kheshig was never one to simply accept praise; ego was good to have, but he liked to keep it in check with doses of reality. It kept him humble and down-to-earth, useful qualities in a job where thinking too highly of yourself could lead to failure or even death. "If she were more like me, you would be on your own distracting everyone in the shop." He said matter-of-factly. Not that you would have any trouble. He added in his head. The last time Kheshig had ever seen a woman naked - or semi-naked - had been when he was garrisoned in Zhejiang close to a decade ago.

"I've learnt to eat when I can, life's a little tougher when you're on your own without some huge organisation covering your back every second."

"The Ministry never covered my back, otherwise I would not be here." Kheshig replied. In all his years with the Ministry, he had only received state-sanctioned support only once or twice, and usually from army units who were just as likely to shoot him as they did the enemy. Other times, it was all down to Kheshig's ability to play up his illegitimate birth and lower-class sensibilities to curry favours with local gangs or once, even the local triad branch. "They gave me a target, mission parameters and left it at that. Everything else was up to me, or on me, depending on how things went."

"This place is a mansion compared to what I'm used to, especially the pool house, I could really get used to a home like this, If it weren't for the company."

Kheshig took a long swig from his can, if only to give him a reason to tilt his head back to avoid looking at Condor's cleavage without looking ridiculous. Part of him wondered if she was doing it on purpose, and the other part oddly hoped that she was. It was a feeling he did not like, and would address later on when he maintained his rifle. "You wound me, and here I thought we were making progress." Kheshig said with a hint of a smile. He was beginning to warm up to this Condor, but he did not rule out her cordiality as being a ruse. "But I agree. I have seen many safehouses, but this one is by far the best, though perhaps not the most discreet."

"What's wrong, you don't like the way I look? If it's the bathrobe you just have to say the word and I'll happily take it off for you."

He had caught sight of her nipple, and while that had brought upon a most unprofessional blush on his face, Kheshig somehow managed to find some courage within him to say his next words. "No, my problem is that I may like it too much." He said. Once his mind finally caught up with his mouth, he quickly added, "I mean that in the best of ways."

That did not seem to make things any better.

"I mean to say that you are attractive," He said in a flat tone, stating it as a fact rather than an observation. He drained his can, crushed it and tossed it into the thrash can. "I would have it if you are not going to," He said and took the last can from the loop. Maybe if he drank more, he would forget about everything that had happened over the last minute.

@Genni

Cecelia'd had enough. Deciding to confront her older female teammate, she first reaches under the couch for the pack of cigarettes she has stashed, checked for the lighter in the half-used box, and gets up. As she starts walking from the living room, she formulates her argument and the current psychological evaluation she has picked up about Condor. Gathering every bit of anger and confidence in her body, she puts on a serious, stone-cold face and approaches Condor. "For future reference, if you plan to talk bad about me, keep me out of earshot. I can pick out the backhanded comments that were for me as well. Someone must have hurt you on the deepest psychological levels for you to be this brutal towards an ally. You should know by now that I truly am sorry for what I did. I wish to now move past it. It's not something I'm proud of, nor will it happen in future missions, because I know the consequences of those actions. It must be fear you've been hiding. Afraid of someone finding you. Afraid of someone coming after you, or someone you love. Are you just afraid to get too close to someone? Is that why all you've done since we've gotten back is tease, confuse, and push your own agenda? Namely revenge. Or is it depression you're trying to hide? All of the previous thoughts having happened and in the past tense? A loved one dead? Two? Three? No purpose left but to kill your loved ones' killer? And now you're hiding out with ex-feds and otherwise underground, erased operatives? You don't know who I know. Maybe I know the people who killed your lover. Or child. Or mother. I worked for an agency that didn't exist. It got buried, but I have contacts that were transferred to the 'new' agency it became. I'm in no databases due to the agency-burying, so I technically don't exist. Yet you toy with me? If you need me, or want to murder me, I'll be out back having a cig."
Turning before the older woman could respond, she walked out of the safehouse and around back. Once in her favorite spot to smoke, which was hidden from all windows in the area, Cecelia starts shaking like a leaf and sobbing quietly for a minute. I hate when I'm talked about behind my back. Even more so when I can hear the horrible words said about me. If I didn't know better, suicide would be a good option. No, it would still be a good option. No one would miss me. Especially Condor. Maybe a better idea would be to fake my own death. Then I'd see their reactions to a suicide by me. I'll have to try that when we have the down time. I'd need to go shopping first. For now, I'll calm my nerves with a cig or two, then go into the tech lab for a little losing-myself-in-work. That always works to take my right brain out of the equation. It's all numbers and electronics. Pure and simple. Pulling out the lighter and one of the menthol 100s from the box in her hand, Cecelia lit one and started to calm down after the first drag.

"For future reference, if you plan to talk bad about me, keep me out of earshot. I can pick out the backhanded comments that were for me as well... ... ...I'm in no databases due to the agency-burying, so I technically don't exist. Yet you toy with me? If you need me, or want to murder me, I'll be out back having a cig."

Condor sat calming watching as Birdseed lost her shit and ranted on like a madwoman before storming back out of the house. Taking a sip from her beer she placed the rest of the can down on the counter before reaching over and sliding the last unopened can over to Kheshig. "This is my fourth, and I think that'll be all for me tonight, help yourself to that one, I'll be heading out to pick up some more in the morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little something to take care of."

Stepping out of the room Condor made her way back to her room and a moment later she was walking out into the back garden, heading for the spot she knew Birdseed would be hiding. Almost without making a sound Condor stepped up behind the younger woman and reached up to grab her by the throat, her fingers closing around Birdseed's throat so she could barely breath, let alone cry for help, while at the same time jamming the silencer pistol up hard into Birdseed's back.

Dragging the shorter woman back, away from the house, Condor made sure they were out of sight before tripping Birdseed up and pushing her down face first in the mud. Quickly grabbing the woman's arms she pulled them behind her back before reaching round and pulling the front of Birdseed's sweatshirt up over her head so that it pressed against the back of her neck and trapped her arms at the same time.

Kneeling down, with her kneecap wedge firmly between Birdseed's shoulder blades, Condor pressed the muzzle of the silencer into Birdseed's cheek, making sure she could see the weapon clearly as her eyes peered up at Condor in terror. Only once she was sure Birdseed was trapped and paying attention did Condor begin to talk. "It's your turn to listen now, bitch. What you did today was a mistake, a big mistake, and at the moment I don't even know whether you might've killed us or not."

The night was cold and Condor was fully aware that her bathrobe had fallen open around her, making her body shake as a reflex to the chilly night air. "You broke protocol, endangered the mission, left fingerprints at the scene, left witnesses who could identify us alive and, if the gang had off-site recording in place, which I know I would have, left surveillance footage showing all three of us at that shop."

Condor's hands were steady, despite the cold, and her voice had a steel intensity which made sure Birdseed knew the fury that Condor had gone to such lengths to hide earlier was only now bubbling to the surface. Condor knew rage though, she knew exactly how to control it, how to direct it, and right now it was all directed towards the stupid cunt lying in the mud beneath her.

"You may have been wiped from agency records, but you went on sanctioned operations for them, which means the government has records on you. That means the people you acted against have records on you, especially if you acted the way you did today when working for your 'super-secret' agency. You leave traces, everywhere you go, but don't even notice, because you're sloppy. For all I know there could already be people on their way here to kill us, so all I want is to enjoy a nice relaxing drink and chill out, before the mayhem starts.

"I could kill you right now, grab my things and be out of the country in less than two hours. By the time the others even thought of wondering where you'd gone I'd be mist. And right now you're making it very difficult for me not to pull the trigger and be out of here. The only reason I don't is because this place has a great hot tub, and I'd rather not see that go to waste."

Condor pulled the pistol out of Birdseed's face and reached back grabbing the woman's arm, twisting it just enough to make sure Birdseed felt it. "And here's what's going to happen next. I'm going to get off you, and I'll walk back to the house. You're going to count to two hundred before you follow me. When we get inside we're going to play nice, we'll smile at each other and laugh at each other's jokes." Condor twisted Birdseed's arm just a little further, until she could hear the tendons creaking under the pressure as she leant down closer to the woman's ear, "And you're never, never, going to ask me about my past ever again. Now nod your head so I know you understand me, and that this time, this time you're going to follow orders."

Cecelia's face was still wet from her tears when someone came out of nowhere and grabbed her up, making her drop her lit, half smoked, cigarette and box. She had just calmed down enough to have gone back in and apologized to Condor, but it turned out to be Condor who had dragged her off. After getting roughed up, Cecelia felt a gun silencer against her face. The initial shock made her panic, but the longer Condor talked, the more defeated and glazed her eyes became, as occasional tears streaked down her face.
Once Condor gave her final word on it, Cecelia couldn't hold her thoughts back any more. Tears spilling out, wetting the dirt that had dried on her face from being pushed in mud, she spoke in a hoarse yelling-whisper. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY I'M SORRY!? I SUCK AT UNDERCOVER, OKAY? I'D BE MORE HAPPY IN A LAB, BUT THIS MISSION CALLED FOR TWO SEDUCTRESSES FOR SOME REASON. I TRIED, AND I FUCKED UP. WHY CAN'T WE FUCKING MOVE ON!?" Her mood sobering up, and darkening, Cecelia continues. "And why don't you just pull it? You can give yourself some bruises and say that I was attacked and you tried to save me. You'd be a hero and I'd just be an insignificant memory. The only thing I'm alright at, psychological talk, is only useful in the field. And we just learned that I can't do that right. So that experiment failed. The only other talent I have is for gadgets, and Kheshig is better at it than I. Therefore, I'm no use to this team, other than a backup, maybe. And my job as a psych on the team is to evaluate teammates' mental statuses, which involves looking at the past. All in all, if I can't do that, I'm not doing my job, and if I can't do that job, I'm fucking useless." Finally getting her deep down pain-filled thoughts out, Cecelia finally lets all her muscles relax from their tensed states.
"Look, I'm not gonna just pretend nothing happened. I will wait before entering the house again, but it's cause I need another smoke because of this situation. By the way, I was moments from returning and apologizing for what I said. Regardless, I will be courteous, and even nice at times. That's because I still have hope that we can at least be friends, not because I'm acting. I'd appreciate if you did the same, just to treat me like a fellow human, not as a ruse so nobody thinks you despise me. I'll go back to the wall and smoke now, if you'll excuse me." Looking Condor over and shaking her head slightly, she makes one last statement as she passes by the older woman. "Also, some mud got on your tit. Might wanna wash that off."
Once she was back at the wall, Cecelia pulled out a brick, revealing some rolled up paper. Taking two and placing the brick back, Cecelia lights one. It was the strongest smoking substance she could get her hands on. Maybe she could get high enough to not care about all of what just transpired. Psychologist, my ass... Can't even get my own head figured out... Maybe one day.

Angelo sighed as he kept an eye on the operation but as far as Angelo could tell everything was going fine until he got a call from Elissa for back up and that their cover was blown; oh shit. Angelo immedatly went to work trying to figure out an escape route for them and Angelo used a secure line to call condor and Kheshig since they were both best suited to giving surpressing fire while birdseed was meant for a stealth op and right now this wasn't it Condor and Kheshig I need you both to get to the warehouse where the others are, their cover is blown and they need back up. Angelo told them from the house intercom and Angelo went back and contacted Elissa from her earpiece don't worry im sending kheshig and condor out to help you now get out of their as quick as you can they should not take long

@genni@skythikon