3678/Tidepool: It's Good to Have Friends

Tidepool: It's Good to Have Friends
Date of Scene:	18 January 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	A friend reaches out and Skye figures out RT's next move.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Quake

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
After being told she was back in the Rising Tide more data had been sent her way, details on ops that were coming up, data caches of shared code. She wasn't a member of the inner circle yet, but she was back and word had gotten around. So it wasn't surprising that before too long she got a ping on that old channel she'd set up with Genus all those years back. The message read: You're back? What's going on?

Quake has posed:
Thank goodness for old channels...

This one came through on the laptop. Skye wasn't trusting the phone that Miles had given her any further than she could throw it. She'd bug the thing if it were her. Or have tracers on it. Sure, she was paranoid about such things, but she'd also been nabbed before, and otherwise had good reason to think that way. Including the fact that despite what her SO might have thought, Skye had paid close attention to all she'd been taught.

A few short keystrokes later, she'd sent back a reply.

<<Meet me? Coffee. -DS>> She left the address of a coffeeshop not to far away from a place that sold cell phones. Skye still had cash left over, and would need a new phone. All she needed to do was get rid of the one she had, and she had an idea for that too..

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
There was a slight delay from Genus. Knowing him, he was probably wondering if she'd sold him out (paranoia sort of ran rampant in their world) but ultimately, he replies with: << See you there >>.

True to his word, when Skye shows up to the coffee shop Genus is there waiting at a back booth with some coffee and some sort of local sweet bun sitting in front of him.

Quake has posed:
Skye was atypically late. She'd stopped to buy a phone on the way there, and what should have been more than enough time had turned into something of a sales pitch fiasco - the young man behind the kiosk trying his damndest to sell her things she didn't want, need, or ask for. He just hadn't seemed to get that she wasn't some airhead who he could sweet talk into settling for more in hopes of bumping up his commission.

In the end she'd given him a long, dry look, and rattled off a stream of specs, telling him if he couldn't provide what she was looking for she'd take her business elsewhere, and inform the manager exactly why she had. Not that she'd had any intention of doing so, but it worked. He'd sold her what she wanted, and given her a discount to boot. Hopefully what he'd remember was a lot more impressive than she actually was. Not that Skye expected anyone would be tracking her down that way, but just in case..

She gets herself a coffee and a danish at the counter before joining Genus, flashing him a smile as she sits. "Hey. Long time no see. Fancy meeting you here."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus looks up when Skye approaches, he smiles back, but it's a tight smile. "You seem chipper," he says as Skye sits down. "Not sure what to make of that. What with you being back in the fold and all." He says as he glances around the coffee shop. Knowing Genus he probably scoped the place out while Skye was getting a phone, but leave it to him to take a second look around.

Quake has posed:
Skye shrugs, and sets her satchel down beside her. "Enh. It is what it is. But you, huh? Seriously. Not the person I expected to contact me and say hello."

Well, okay, he ranked in that list, but she'd not expected it so soon. Which meant, likely, that Genus was feeling out what was actually up.

"How's the coffee?" She nods with her chin towards his.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus studies Skye's face across the table for a moment, watching her like a deer that hasn't quite decided to bolt. Though, when he lifts his coffee for a sip, it seems like he's decided to stay. "I was curious," Genus admits, seeing that they were apparently going to talk like normal people. "From when we spoke I didn't see you jumping back into the fold."

As for the coffee, he wrinkles his nose, "It's different. They put something in it here I think. First time to Madripoor through the bar," he explains.

Quake has posed:
Skye actually knew the answer to this one. "Cinnamon," she tells Genus with a shrug. "Supposed to do something with the bitterness or something. Like who actually drinks it for the taste?"

Which is poking fun at herself, of course, all things considered. She's rarely managed a cup while it's hot. And still didn't drink all that much of it these days even when it was coder cold.

"Yeah. I know," Skye admits with a sigh. "Just a bunch of shit happening all around. It was a move that made sense. You know?"

Genus gets a frown, though, for his efforts at checking her out like that. "What?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Ah," Genus says about the cinnamon as he takes another sip, trying to suss out the flavour now that he knows what it is. "Hmm, not terrible actually," he allows before offering a smile to Skye. "I hear there is an entire culture around coffee none of it having to do with the caffeine, me I say they're a bunch of weirdos."

"Fair enough," Genus allows about Skye's affiliations and he looks like he's about to say more when she asks him what that look was about. "Well, last time we talked, I wasn't exactly complimentary about our colleagues, so, I just wanted to be sure that you knew I wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble, just talking to someone I could trust, y'know?"

Quake has posed:
Skye grins, though her nose crinkles, "A whole culture, huh? Definite weirdos. I mean, shit, if you don't have anything better, or you need to keep your eyes open for a job, sure, but why else would you bother?"

This from the woman who fed herself ramen as a staple when there was a perfectly functional cafeteria just the wing over.

"Totally grokked you," Skye tells him. "Wasn't thinking you were slamming anyone. Truth is, you kinda made me see the writing on the wall. About my place in things, you know?" Her own coffee is sipped, and she makes a considered face. "Actually, you're right. That's not horrible. Who knew." She shrugs. "That whole ball drop thing, it's got folks back at SHIELD on edge. They know something's up, or going to be. And with what you dropped in my lap? Figured it wouldn't be too long before they connected the dots back to me and the accusations started flying."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Right?" Genus says about the coffee people. "Plus, the guys who make a lot of this stuff," he nods to the coffee in his cup. "Like the growers and stuff, total scumbags, now that you've got your black hat back on, maybe we should settle up with a few of them, huh?" he suggests.

The tension was easing from Genus some now despite taking another sip of his coffee, plus a bite of that sugary bun on his plate.

"Not bad, right?" he says when Skye takes her sip, then, he's leaning in to listen to what she has to say about the rest, the thing he was really interested in. "See, told you that whole Ball Drop thing was a bad idea, shit, sorry it messed up that whole thing you had going, and before you could get me Widows' number. How'd Hawkeye take it?" he asks with a smile, still amused that Skye had been dating an Avenger.

Quake has posed:
Skye looks down into her cup for a moment before answering Genus, then sighs, giving a shrug. "He didn't take it well. Of course the fact that I'd just stolen a ton of shit didn't help. Ended up shooting him." Of course, it's Genus, so she has to qualify that. "With an ICER. These guns they have that paralyze you. Probably just as well. Don't need murder on my sheet too. But yeah. So much for that, huh?"

Though she offers a weak grin. "You don't want Widow's number. Trust me. She's mean. And she doesn't like me. Hell, she didn't like me before I shot Hawkeye. I can't imagine this made her like me any better."

All of it was true, and suddenly all of it was weighing very heavily upon Skye.

"I really liked him, you know? Just what was there for us anyway. I'm a black hat. He's out to save the world. Nobody believes that shit can work anyway, right?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus' eyes round when she tells him she'd shot Hawkeye. "What?" he asks his voice raising suddenly before he drops it again and leans across the table so they can talk more quietly. "You really shot an Avenger? Doesn't that make you a supervillain or something?" he asks. His expression is is a mix of surprise, admiration and fear. "I mean, I'm glad it was just a paralyzing shot, because Hawkeye, and because, you, I mean you don't want that kind of record, trust me. I mean stealing from the Avengers or SHIELD or whomever is bad enough, but yeah, killing one, that's just bad news."

"Hey, a man can dream right?" he offers weakly. "I figure I could use the thing about us both being Russian as an in," he jokes lamely before he sees how much all of this was hurting Skye and he reaches out a hand and rests it on her arm.

"I saw the picture, I could tell," Genus says. "But I think you did the smart thing, get out before they locked you up. Even if he understood, I mean he's an Avenger, he can't just bust you out of whatever jail SHIELD throws you in, they've got all sorts of crazy rules. You had to take care of yourself. That's how it is sometimes."

Quake has posed:
The touch upon her arm was unexpected, Skye's eyes threatening to let loose the water works. It wasn't like she had so many friends, and she'd alienated every last one of them at SHIELD for the time being. Genus was as close as she got right now, and she couldn't even tell him the truth. All she could remember was that last night with Clint, how they'd been all kinds of slow and playful and..

..and she'd lied to him. Then shot him to boot. She had no clue when or if Fury would let anyone in on the truth. Or if Clint would understand. Even when the truth came out, Skye wasn't sure how any of this would resolve.

"Yeah," she nods. "You saw those pictures. We had a good thing. Just this whole mess here, right? Not like I could tell him, or ask him to wait for it all to go away."

Skye almost gave a bitter little laugh at how true that was. She'd been the one to make the call on not telling Clint. If it had been any other undercover mission, she could have told him she had to go away. It was work. But this? Breaking out of SHIELD? How do you tell your love you need to go away for work, then steal from and break out of the very place the next day and not have them know exactly what was going on. And if he knew, anyone who saw those pictures of her with him at Tony's party would know that every word out of her mouth to Miles and Rising Tide was a bald faced lie.

It wasn't worth the risk.

"She wouldn't care if you're both Russian," Skye murmurs, wiping underneath her eyes and forcing a smile. "She'd be just as likely to shoot you for that as anything else. And yeah. was bad enough shooting him. Never shot a person before. Not for real."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus could tell Skye was hurting and he slid over his couple of napkins in case the waterworks were more than just threatening and he gave Skye's arm a squeeze.

"I get it," he says about not being able to tell him or hope he would wait and understand. He gives a helpless little chuckle, "Hell I've been there, giving up a good thing, just because I had to bounce and cut ties, I mean, wasn't an Avenger and probably not even as good as what you had, but I dunno, I've been there, just wish I had some wisdom to share beyond all that, it gets better bullshit."

He frowns, "I totally not helping, am I?" he asks. "Good with code, people not so much."

He does smile back though about Widow. "Would she kiss me before she shot me?" he asks. "Might be worth it."

The mirth is short lived and he gives Skye's arm another squeeze. "Never shot anyone, but I know people who have, probably good thing you're hurting, means you're not a psycho, but um, if you need to talk, I can listen."

Quake has posed:
Skye snorts, though she takes a napkin and balls it up in a free hand. Just in case, mind you. "Oh, she'd likely shoot you after making you think you might get to kiss her. You'd take half a step forward and *blam*."

Skye manages to laugh at that. She wasn't even sure how Nat dealt with things, but in Skye's head it made a funny little scenario, and right now she needed something to drag her mood back from morose.

"Ah. Was a stupid idea anyway. Like you said, he's an Avenger, and what am I huh? Better to sticck with who and what I know and make a life. Besides, people like us need to be able to cut ties. Can't illuminate the shadows if you're tied to one place."

Genus gets a look, and a nod. "Thanks, huh? You're better than you think. So many things messed up in my head right now. And I'm holed up in this shitshack of a motel. I swear to god it's me and five burly men from the old country and all they eat are meat products. The smell from the john makes me remember gas stations fondly. And I'm talking I can smell this from my room."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus smiles even as he pretends to flinch. "Damn, that's cold. Is it bad that still turns me on?" he asks with a grin that turns into a chuckle. "Yeah, I know, I've got issues."

He lets go of her arm when she begins to laugh and he settles back to tear a piece off of his bun and eat it. "Can't blame you for wanting it though, the normal, someone who cares, I mean, we're hardwired for it I think, even people like us." He lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "Guess we'll need to make up for it all with some epic ops, huh?" he says his smile returning after looking serious for a moment.

"Hey, hidden talent, I can deal with that," Genus says before he makes a face at Skye's living situation. "Gross. If you need a place to crash I can hook you up. I mean it won't be scenic Madripoor, but I've got some bounces in New York you could crash at. No meat farts, just bit of bad vodka and boiled cabbage smell."

Quake has posed:
"No meat farts? Sounds like heaven. And I don't want to tell you about the plunger situation." Skye chuckles, breathing a sigh of relief that she managed to not break down in front of Genus. At least not fully.

What was it Fury had said? -You self medicate.- Yeah. This was a lot harder than she'd expected it would be, and she was only days in. She missed her life at SHIELD. Her work. Her friends... Clint. Damn she missed that man. She'd spent entirely too much time lying in the dark staring at the ceiling of the flophouse she was now calling home. She'd even named the ceiling cracks: Tom, Dick, and George.

It was kind of a personal joke. Everyone expected Harry. George was the throwback.

Outside the box. That was Skye.

"Serious? If you could hook me up with that, it'd be awesome. And hells, yeah, epic ops. Got any ideas?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus laughs, "Yeah, I am not even going to ask about the plunger thing," ugh, meat farts are one thing, meat shits... He shudders internally. "But yeah if you want to grab your shit we can go right now, like even my crappiest spot is miles better than where you're at by the sound of things." He smirks a little, "Speaking of Miles, guess you've spoken to him huh? How'd he take the whole Houdini act?" he asks.

At the mention of ops, he grins widely, "Got a couple in the works I could use another set of eyes on, we can talk about it on the way to the bounce," and away from prying ears. Miles may not have gotten a hang of the paranoia thing until recently, but Genus was all about it. "But for the most part I've been doing prep for this op Miles roped me into. He's calling it a 'loyalty test', the asshole."

Quake has posed:
"H always was an asshole." And that coming from someone who slept with him. Skye shrugs. "He didn't believe me at first. But he liked what I brought with me. Enough to put in a good word. And loyalty test, huh? What the fuck is actually up with him anyway? Hell, you've been with the group longer than I have. If he doesn't trust you by now.."

She lets her words trail off and shakes her head.

"Sure, let's kick this joint. I've got nothing holding me down to the place. In fact, I've got nothing I even need to go back for."

Which solved the whole how to ditch the bugged phone issue. She hadn't even had to look to know it was bugged. H had keepers now. That much she'd been able to glean. The money? His eagerness? Loyalty test? None of it was Miles, and none of it was sounding good.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus knocks back the rest of his coffee now that it had gotten cold enough to guzzle then wolfs down the rest of his bun as well. He swallows quickly before saying, "The cinnamon thing is growing on me," then gets up from the table: "Good to see you're traveling light at least, always a good move."

Then, he turns back to Miles, ahem, H, he kicked himself internally for breaking protocol by using the guy's name in public. Asshole or not, rules were rules. "And yeah, H has always been an asshole but now he's a super mega asshole. The whole loyalty test? It's an old guard new guard thing, he wants to make sure us superhero fanboys are more loyal to the cause than we are the tights crowd. So, were going after," he doesn't say the word, but he spells it out on the table: S-T-A-R-K.

"H, say anything about that to you?"

Quake has posed:
Yeah, Skye had noticed the break in protocol. She was pretty sure it was an honest slip, not a testing out of herself, but she'd been careful in return. With Miles acting as he was, the new possibility existed that all the hackers who weren't in the voting pool could be bugged. And if that were true, Skye certainly knew it wasn't Miles idea. He was brilliant in some ways, but oh, so stupid in others.

She could barely remember what she'd seen in him past the safety net.

Her eyes widen slightly as she reads the tabletop lettering. "No shit, huh? That's not a loyalty test. That's a freaking heist. What the ever-loving.. no. Nevermind. And no. He didn't say. Of course he only just decided I wasn't wired for sound and transmitting."

She rolls her eyes. "As if. But seriously, that's what he's got on the go? Any word when?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus nods towards the door, going silent until they're out of the shop and on the street. Then just to be extra careful he pulls out his phone and turns it off. Once that's done, he takes a breath and says, "Soon. It probably would have popped off right after new years but they ran into some snags, one of the inner circle met a guy who Stark's security hired to run a penetration test on his systems and from what he had to say Stark's security is next level, like he's got some sort of AI running around in there or something" he says. "Which is why I figured H would have talked to you about it. Now that you're on board, you're their best shot. Well, our best shot I guess, but you know what I mean."

"And yeah, it's heist, we've got a wish list of data, stuff to put out on the site and show the world how big our dicks are," he gives Skye a smile. "Figuratively speaking."

Quake has posed:
Skye is happy enough to wait until they're out of the coffee shop to speak again, though she has to stop herself from pointing out to Genus how useless it was to turn his phone off. If he'd been handed it by someone else, turning it off wasn't going to be enough, there would be a remote chip independant of the phone itself, happily listening away and sending out pings.

She could cover neatly enough, though.

"Yeah. He's got some pretty sweet systems running. H is going to need his best and then some to break in. Tony's a freaking genius, and yeah, there's at least one set of AI running at the place." She wasn't telling them anything new, if they had that info. And she might be guaranteeing they asked her in for the job the way she was selling it.

She'd already decided Genus was bugged too. The fact that he'd turned his phone off had only worked to convince her.

She nods, though, smirking as the dicks comment comes out. "Well, I'm here to tell you, I've seen H's dick, and it's nothing to write home about. At least not size-wise. To hear him tell, he's hung like a horse, and runs like the Energizer bunny." Of course she's mixing metaphors and references there, speaking both of the actual dick, and what Miles thought of his own abilities. More and more Skye could see how he'd been bought. They'd played to his ego as they'd waved cash. She should have seen it all along - the writing was already on that wall back before she'd been nabbed by SHIELD. What was surprising was that it had taken this long for him to sell out.

Only Miles was so bamboozled, he didn't even know yet that he /had/ sold out.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Genus doesn't know what to make of Skye's reaction at first, but then he clues in and his eyes slide down to the phone in his hand. His eyes cut back up to Skye. ~Shit~ he mouthes before picking up Skye's ruse and carrying it forward. "Yeah? At least one? Shit. Well they better ask you to come with then if we're going to do more than throw a bunch of code then pull a Sir Robin."

"God," Genus says with a flinch. "I did not need that much information about H's dick. What did you even see in that guy anyhow?" he asks as he starts down the street tucking the phone away in his bag. ~Who?~ he mouthes before he says, "C'mon let's split a cab, we'll go back to Molly's step back to NYC and get you somewhere to crash that doesn't smell like meat farts."

Quake has posed:
Skye allowed herself a smile as Genus didn't even need to be clued in. Mostly definitely smarter than Miles in some respects. Miles would likely always be a better coder, but he suffered from an over blown sense of self and a lack of seeing the bigger picture. Or, you know, those odd moments of insight.

Like the fact that Miles didn't see what a puppet he was. Or that the puppetmasters wanted something very specific that they didn't want to be connected to them until it was too late.

Only they'd already lost that battle. Because of Genus as it happened. SHIELD had gotten the jump and the edge on that one and was already on the case figuring out who and what.

If Skye had to hazard, Stark Industries was another red herring. And it wasn't a loyalty test. But it was a test of skill, and a run down of what the actual job would be without running the actual job. Sort of like her tests with Nat had been. Finding the pitfalls and countering them before it mattered.

Miles was most definitely NOT that talented.

She shrugs at Genus. She has no answer for him. Or at least none she can give him.

"It was a different time, G. I needed things he could give me. It was mutual masturbation at it's finest, I guess. And yeah. I'd like to crash in a place that doesn't smell like meat farts and use a toilet I don't have to spray down before I sit. Let alone double lock the doors before I shower."