Looking for Trouble (Cole)

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick walked through The Express, headed for where he'd heard "Jetta" was staying, now that she and her friend Husher had joined Fallenring. Husher had joined as a Hunter, and his skills had shown themselves. He was being a great help to the Fallen.

Cole, which he'd learned was her real name, had joined as an Omega. She had made herself quite useful around the Express, helping keep things fixed up and running smoothly. She had proven to be one of the more capable Omegas, clearly showing her intelligence and skill. Her overqualification for her position in the Ring was made glaringly obvious just a few days ago while she was filling a slot in a hinting party.

Quick was on his way now to address this overqualification. He would love to see her talents put to better use, maybe as a Hunter or even a Scout. It didn't matter, really. She would be more useful as anything but an Omega. He had a plan in place to try and change her mind.

As he neared the area that her home was in, he began using his telepathy to scan for her mind. It wasn't an intrusive reading of thoughts, but rather a gentle brush against the psyche meant to determine her whereabouts. It didn't take long before he'd found her. He came around the last corner and saw her in front of him, her back to him.

"So, 'Jetta', how are you settling into Fallen?" He asked as he approached, hands in his pants' pockets and an amicable smile on his face...

[Cole]

Cole was in the process of methodically washing her hands of blood, having just plunged them into the carcass of a deer. She spent several seconds rubbing both her fingers and palms free of the crimson stains in a bucket of water, rising to wipe the excess water down the lengths of her thighs. It was about then that she heard the muffled approach of someone. She was initially unconcerned, considering the fact she was in a more busy area of Fallen, where they were bound to have a bonfire later that night. "So, 'Jetta', how are you settling into Fallen?" It was the ironic way the name was spoken that had her casting a glance over her shoulder. The word itself slipped from her mind even as she recognized the man before her, although vaguely. He brought to mind thoughts of gritty sand and dehydration, both of which were distasteful. Cole turned to face him, picking blood from underneath her short fingernails. There was no denying the fact that he was addressing her. "I'm settling pretty good, thank you." She kept her tone misleading happy. It was clear that she was not pleased to see him. "What do you want?" She may as well be frank about it. Cole crossed her arms over her chest and, at the expression of distress, both of the dogs tied to a nearby log (it acted as a makeshift bench) began to yip. She cast a sharp glance at them. "Enough!" It did little to quiet them however. She raised a hand to her temple in exasperation. This was not how she foresaw her day going. If she remembered correctly, she ought to be showing this man more respect than she was.

["Quick" Taylor]

"I'm settling pretty good, thank you, she said. The tone in her voice sounded friendly and happy, but her body language completely contradicted that message she was sending verbally. She seemed on-edge, almost on the verge of hostile. Some might attribute this to her being new, but Quick didn't think so.

Since she had joined, Cole had been withdrawn from the rest of the Ring, only dealing with a small group of people on a regular basis. It seemed as though she went bhai out of her way to avoid any other interactions at all. While Quick, being a bit of a loner as well, could understand the want to be alone, he also knew being alone in the Ring was not good. He had seen it befor e from a few people. It alienated you, and ultimately led to an unpleasant end.

Maybe it has to do with that business with Grey, he thought briefly. He just put a small on his face when she got to the point and asked what he wanted.

"Just checking up with one of our newest members. I'm not the most social person, but I have a habit of going around to check on as many people in the Ring as I can," he said with a shrug as he leaned against the wall of the nearby railcar, crossing his arms over his chest as well,"If there's anything I can do for you, just tell me."

[Cole]

Her gaze became doleful upon Quick's statement. Cole decided that there was no point in maintaining some happy-go-lucky facade in the face of this man. The memory of him continued to dawn on her, albeit slowly, so that what she saw in her mind's eye was the recollection of a sand storm and Quick's "kindness". But no one had good intentions; at least not as good and selfless as his appeared to be. Cole tucked a strand of scarlet hair behind her ear and curled a lip in distaste. "Thank you for the offer," she replied, shortly. "But I'm pretty independent." Cole needed no one's help, much less this man's. "Unless you have something else to say, I guess you can go check up on those other people." She was dismissing him with a look that was distrustful; it was simply that. Cole did not trust his alleged "good-intentions", and she did not need his pity or his concern. She felt as though there were something underlying their conversation. Did he think her his "adopted" dog? A stray picked up from the street, to be coddled and looked after and tamed? Cole was having none of it.  With that in mind, she neared March and Happy to kneel beside them. She undid the rope that acted as leashes and rose, the puppies in hand. They tugged against crude harnesses, tongues lolling excitedly, eyeing Quick as though he were a new chew-thing. Had they been older and more seasoned, it may have been intimidating. Instead? Cole noticed that they looked like overgrown dust-bunnies, the damn dogs. Still, her fondness showed when she knelt to draw them close to her by their harnesses.

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick stood there for a moment, considering Cole as she brushed him off. Her reaction was not so different from how he would have reacted back when he first got put in the dome. He'd been independent, fiercely defiant of the Keepers and anyone who tried to push him around, and stubborn enough to make a mule back down. He'd changed though, mostly through his devotion to protecting Fallenring. However, as Cole would soon find out, he was still just as stubborn as always.

"I actually do still have something to discuss with you," he said matter of factly, uncrossing his arms and slowly pushing himself off of the railcar wall, "I heard what you did with that hunting party earlier today, how you both secured a large buck for food and saved the life of one of our hunters."

He paused for a moment, carefully considering what to say next. Cole wasn't using her talents to yhe fullest in Fallen's benefit. He wanted to change that. If he went about it in the wrong way, though, it might be forever out of reach. Demanding it from her was obviously out of the question. That option could actually end up forcing her out of the Ring, which he wanted to avoid. Conversely, asking her to do it wouldn't work either. No, he needed a mixture of force and tact, something he wasn't particularly good at accomplishing properly. However, for the sake of Fallen, he had to try.

"I'd like to know, why did you decide to join Fallen?" He asked her, slowly sliding his hands into his pockets.

[Cole]

Cole knew what was coming. She remained kneeling only to cast a glance up toward Quick, her thoughts on the matter clearly shown in her expression. She was not happy with any of this. She would have preferred to be left alone to her duties, without the intervention of a man who was doing an overly good job at being the Fallen beta. Her fingers knotted in March's fur and she reclined on her haunch, the hot sun beading sweat between her shoulder blades. She said nothing as he told her what she had done, as though it were remarkable. It wasn't. Cole had responded to what Grey would have called an unsavory situation. When he did pose her question, she resisted the urge to scoff aloud. She refused to sugar-coat her answer. "Because my friend joined." Nycole stood and Happy tugged against his leash, eagerly looking at Quick. She pulled him back with exasperation until he obliged, sitting unhappily at her heels. "There's no other reason." She thought of Husher now, trying to reason with herself. It had been a good choice. She was not as hungry with a group to hunt for her, nor did she sleep quite as uneasily. "Are we done yet? I have things to do and I'm sure you do, too." It was the second time she attempted to get him to leave. Cole was no longer being subtle. She simply wanted to be left alone and in peace. She had not saved that hunter to get rewarded or to gain unwanted attention; Cole had done it because it had been the right thing to do.

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick nodded silently as Cole mentioned joining Fallen because of her friend, Husher. Her puppy tugged against his leash as she stood and the small dog brought a smile to his face. He leaned down and held out his hand for him to sniff. As he did, he looked up at Cole as she mentioned there were things they should both probably be doing. Little did she know, he was in the middle of ne of those tasks right at that moment.

"I do have things to do, but they involve you," he told her, standing slowly, "Before I elaborate, there's a few things you should know. It'll be easier to show than explain though."

Without waiting for a response, he brushed his mind against hers, slowly letting images seep into her mind's eye. He showed her a large swath of the Fallenring desert, the sand choked with lifeless bodies as large clusters of Shifters, both in human and shift forms, fought brutally. The sand was wet with blood all around. It shifted to a scene with a large group of Fallen fleeing the Switchstone Express, which had large trails of smoke rising into the sky. Many I. The line were clearly mourning those who had had to be left behind, unable to catch up or staying behind to buy time for their escape from the Carnaring attack.

He stopped it there, only giving her a taste of what he was sure to come if things didn't change. He gave her a few minutes to let it all sink in, gauging her reaction.

"We're on the verge of war with Carna...," he said finally, "As things are, everything I just showed you will happen, in one form or another, if we don't change a few things. We have too few people who can fight, compared to Carna.

"I'm here to ask if you're willing to do more to help us. It's obvious that you handle difficult situations well, and we are short on such people."

[Cole]

If he had believed his little "show" would evoke compassion, he was sadly mistaken. The invasion on her mind succeeded only in alienating Cole. She drew back, her arms crossed, accepting the images but inherently disliking the fact that he had such power over her mind. She had seen such carnage before; she would see such carnage again. It did not earn a reaction, or at least not the one he may have expected. Cole merely knelt to settle her crying puppy, her hands busy, her pale jade eyes remaining locked upon Quick. He had violated her mind again.  "Let me rephrase what you just requested of me." Cole rose to her full height; she was far from intimidating in comparison to most men. Her frame was too slender. But her gaze was savage in its intensity. Brutal, even. "You would like me to put my life on the line to prevent a war that I hold no personal interest in? The only men I owe anything to are my friend... and you." She admitted that begrudgingly, with a derisive curl to her lip. Cole was not impressed. She shut down immediately when conversations ensued; much less when one ensued during which her mind was invaded.   "I do not like to have debts, however." She remembered him in the desert, saving her. Cole notched her chin proudly, her eyes remaining narrowed both toward him and the sun. "So what would you have me to do to repay it?" Cole paused, then. She thought of how to phrase her next request... only to emerge with the conclusion that it did not matter how she said it, merely that you did. "And will you please stop using Telepathy on me? You don't just grope someone you hardly know, do you? It's a violation." Her eyes were furious. It reminded her too much of what Stark had done to her; it reminded her too much that she could remember nothing. Any brush of something on her mind, any suggestion that her thoughts were not her own, drove Cole to madness.  She constantly doubted what memories were real and which were not; she did not need to be doubting her thoughts as well.

["Quick" Taylor]

"Let me rephrase what you just requested of me," Cole replied as she stood from where she'd crouched down next to her puppy. She stared at Quick, he eyes boring holes through his head with a gaze so intense lesser men would have trembled. Quick, defiant as ever, stood his ground before her piercing glare. In fact, he looked her straight in the eyes the whole time she spoke to show her he meant business and wouldn't back down.

"You would like me to put my life on the line to prevent a war that i hold no personal interest in," she continued, "The only men I owe anything to are my friend...and you."

Quick listened to her explain how she didn't like having debts and even a flat-out challenge for him to let her fulfill her debt to him. He shook his head and responded quietly.

"You owe me jack shit," he said, looking her straight in the eyes again, "I didn't save you to put you in my debt: I saved you because nobody deserves to die like that. I'd have helped you even if you'd been a member of Carna, albeit more cautiously, I'll admit.

"You also only have what I'm asking of you half right," he said, now levying his own intense gaze straight into her eyes in an attempt to convey his seriousness, "What I'm asking is far worse than just putting your life on the line for a war you have no stake in. I'm asking you to possibly kill every man, woman, and child outside Fallenring if it's necessary to protect the Ring. In order to protect the peace that most within this Ring want, I'm asking you to become the beast that we're all thought to be in order to protect those among us who clearly are not. I'm asking you to give up your humanity to protect that of others who are incapable of giving it up."

He paused for a moment, unsure of exactly where his words were coming from, but knowing they were the best shot he had left to convince her. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "I won't pretend to be a saint, 'Jetta'. The fact I'm responsible for setting half of Carna territory on fire just because I lost my temper can attest to that. But I do know that, in a place like this dome, the people who refuse to fight and attempt to hold on to their humanity are the truly strong ones. I'm asking you to help me defend the best of our people. What that requires is greater than any debt that could be owed. I need the help of people like you desperately, but I can't force you. You have to make the decision yourself.

"You also don't have to answer now. If you need time to think, that's fine," he finished, letting out a deep sigh, "You know how to find me, I'm sure."

[Cole]

His philosophy contended mightily with her own. Cole could scarcely comprehend such a selfless approach toward life--she originated from a company that had been build upon the backs of others, built upon their loss and destruction. It had never been about saving anything. It had been about preserving a race doomed to be discriminated against, doomed to be feared. She had lived to eliminate whatever individuals threatened their secret. Young or old, innocent or guilty, man or woman, adult or child. They had argued that it was always for the "greater good" but the immorality of her past actions haunted her still. If Cole had found someone in a position such as hers, she would have let them die. At least that was what she believed of herself and her own character. In her own opinion, she was all too often incapable of anything redeemable. Hush may have argued that point; his daughter may have also argued that point. But Cole would not. She said nothing in reply, merely continued to maintain that fierce-eyed stare. Her jaw worked, her hands twitched involuntarily into fists. Her instinct was to run or to fight, never to talk. "You also only have what I'm asking of you half right." She listened because she had to, not because she wanted to. Every muscle quivered. Every instinct screamed escape. She was a sparrow in a cobra's gaze. His words stole her breath. Cole had not expected this of him. She was wordless after his speech, wordless and uncertain, gazing abruptly at a man she did not recognize. She had pegged him wrong from the beginning; that was clear now after he had delivered his reasons for being there. He requested of her the one thing she had promised herself she would never be again; a tool. This infuriated her. Cole's ration waned; her fury waxed. The transition from controlled to uncontrolled was sudden, with no warning, not even one she could have given herself. She lunged forward, triggering the mechanism on her hand that released her wrist blades. If Quick did not move backward, they would be pressed chest-to-chest. The blades, bright with sunlight, flashed out toward his throat and just beneath his armpit, an area that was more vital than people gave it credit. Cole maintained enough control to keep from pursuing the killing blow. The blades would settle an inch or further from his skin. The rest of her was close enough to feel the heat of his body and smell the masculine odor of his skin. Her eyes were furious, more feral than human, her brow drawn tight and her jaw clenched. "You are not afraid of asking everything of someone." Cole seethed. "I will not be anyone's weapon ever, ever again. I refuse to be your attack dog, to order as you so please, to sic upon and maim whichever person has wronged your Ring. If I kill someone, I will choose to do it." It was what she should have said long ago, to another man. The blades were retracted just as abruptly as they had been drawn. Cole would step back, oblivious now to the yips of her dogs. She was enraged but too proud to lose control completely. Is this what he believed was the right thing to do?