Little Talks (Closed)

[Monica Stane]

There were two places she knew for certain that Tim was likely to be. One was his laboratory at Astaria's Research Facility. The second was his laboratory at Aegis' headquarters. Honestly she didn't even know if he owned a home, apartment, anywhere a human being was expected to live. No, she simply assumed he alternated living in one lab and then the other. She was most likely correct on that assumption. She walked into Aegis' headquarters as if she wasn't Valkyrie, wanted by this very team for murder - specifically murdering people she still believed deserved it. She walked in as if she was Monica Stane, an agent of the FBI. She assumed they had facial recognition but she still flashed her badge at the first security camera she saw. She walked with a purpose and thus anyone who saw her assumed she was there on official business, they assumed one of the Pillars had contacted the FBI, perhaps about the second attack on their headquarters or perhaps the FBI had contacted the Pillars for help. She didn't run into any of the Pillars. Monica arrived at Tim's lab and stood in the doorway. She lightly knocked against the door frame to let him know he had company if Alice hadn't already alerted him. Once his eyes were on her, she spoke, her tone serious and letting him know she wasn't going to take no for an answer if he dared to try to offer that as one. "We need to talk, Timothy."

... why did love put a gun in my hand? In my bed, in my head, in my hand. was it for redemption? was it for revenge? ... valkyrie Timothy Smith outfit 252 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Timothy Smith]

"I think I'm really close to solving this, Alice. We'll... just have to figure out a new way to capture Nihilo. I'll be fine. We'll figure it out. It'll be fine. I'm fine."

Alice rolled her eyes. She knew Monica was coming. She was just going to let this all happen. Hopefully, Monica would shock some sense into him and he'd start sleeping again.

He was bent over his workbench, manipulating and observing a sample of Nihilo and making notes. The dark circles under his eyes were threatening to turn him into a raccoon, and the bags under his eyes were big enough to hold his wallet. When Monica stepped in and knocked on the doorframe, he was not expecting it at all. He jumped back, instinctively covering his shoulder where he'd been shot by her before. "Don't shoot I'm not sneaking up on you!"

After a moment of near-hyperventilation, he finally calmed down. A little bit.

"I.. who... How? Why? Are you here? This is the worst idea for you. Do you want to get arrested? This is how you get arrested! Crap crap shit heck Ivan is going to kill me. Then Scott's going to bring me back so he can kill me but first Lisa is going to cut off parts of my body that I would really rather keep attached and.... just... why are you here? Shit, right yeah don't shoot me please if you're here Alice already knows and she'll make sure that whatever we say here doesn't get to the wrong people. But... why???"

Monica Stane

[Monica Stane]

She arched an eyebrow at his reaction, noting the way he covered where he'd been shot before. Perhaps being shot had been a bit more traumatizing to him than she'd expected. She hadn't expected him to start hyperventilating. Part of her wanted to help coax him through it, be that motherly side she had. The other part wasn't sure if he'd listen to her. She had shot him, after all. She listened to his rambling. He no longer seemed at risk of a panic attack but he seemed anything except calm to her still. Did he think she'd try to kill him? If she did, it certainly wouldn't have been Aegis' headquarters. She could be reckless sometimes but she wasn't stupid. "Oh please," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Scott's too nice to kill you. If anything, Julian might." She knew her children well and she didn't think Scott had it in him to take a life. In all seriousness, she didn't think any of her children had it in them. She was grateful for that. "I'm here to talk, Timothy," she explained and gestured to her hips which lacked any holsters for guns. Even with her badge, there was no guarantee that she'd be allowed into the building with weaponry on her - not that she thought she always needed weapons; she was cocky like that. And she hadn't been in the mood to try to fight her way inside just to talk to Tim. She took out a vile from her back pocket, walking over, eyes on him, and setting it down on his workbench. "This is a sample of the venom Viper used when he attacked the pier," she said, lightly tapping the vile with her finger to emphasis his point. "It's been separate from the blood it was infused in so you should be able to create an antidote. The poison is unlike any I've seen which means he must have created it himself." She knew Aegis had a healer so she continued before he could point out that very fact. "With an antidote, you should be able to cure anyone in case they get poisoned before your healer can get to them." She pulled her hand away from the vile to let him pick it up if he wanted to. "This is the only sample I have. I don't recommend wasting it." She knew he might want to do experiments, to see if it had an effect on himself but she also knew that every drop they could use to create an antidote, they needed to do exactly that. Monica had already noticed how tired he looked, the bags under his eyes, the dark circles. She made a note to address that before she left. After all he wasn't good to anyone, least of all himself, if he was truly as exhausted as he looked. But she still had important matters she'd came to discuss. "I heard Aegis got attacked," she said, folding her arms across her chest and arching an eyebrow as if daring him to deny it. "Again - This time on the inside, a possible breakout for two prisoners." She knew he wouldn't know how she got that information - She knew Alice wouldn't know how she got that information. She didn't plan to reveal her source but it was clear she had one.

... why did love put a gun in my hand? In my bed, in my head, in my hand. was it for redemption? was it for revenge? ... valkyrie Timothy Smith outfit 562 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Timothy Smith]

Tim picked up the vial of poison and looked it over, focusing on that first. It was nice to realize that she wasn’t armed and wasn’t going to shoot him again. He still swore to himself that he wasn’t being that quiet as he came around the corner. Hell, he had “just come to talk.” That was the past, though, he needed to move on and if he was going to make it like this without sleep, he needed to focus on the present.

He set the vial in a slot in the wall that opened up. “You know what to do, Alice. Get that to the med guys, and have em send me whatever they find out. I’m curious.”

He turned back to Monica. “Thanks. We got a small sample from Colonel, after Nitro, our healer, extracted it from him. Saved his life. But that will help us nail down an antidote.”

He sighed as he began closing up and putting away the things he had been working on. “Not possible. Definite. Damn, did the Star already put out an article? The Pillars haven’t even debrief everyone yet. There’s a big meeting thing scheduled. Free lunch, that’ll be nice.”

He put the sample back away in it’s containment and cleaned off his tools. “So. What’s there to talk about? It happened. Nobody died, thank God. We’ll learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ll figure out who orchestrated this and bring them in. What’s there to talk about? Everything’s fine. We’ll be fine. I’m fine.”

His tone made it clear that he wasn’t quite sure if he was trying to convince Monica, or himself. “It’s... it’s all fine.”

Monica Stane

[Monica Stane]

She watched him carefully as he picked up the vial, noting the way he focused on it, the way he got serious when he had something to analyze. She remembered that look from whenever he had helped Ivan on a science project. She was glad to see some things still hadn't changed. "They should compare the samples," she said after being informed of the sample Aegis had gotten from Colonel, "It could be a different poison." She wasn't sure what poison had been used on Colonel but she had been told by her children that the one on the pier had burned. She still remembered getting them to that underground healer. They had had burns on their skin from the poison, which had been healed. "I also don't suggest letting that touch anyone's skin," she added matter-of-factly, "I hear it burns." She folded her arms across her chest as he reacted to the news that she was very much aware what had happened inside Aegis. She remained silent as he talked, knowing his reaction told her far more than if she'd asked any questions in that moment. She hadn't actually checked any tabloids like the Star but she had a feeling if they'd covered it, she would've at least heard about it. Tim very much didn't seem fine. In her experience, when everything was fine, someone typically didn't need to insist it was all fine. That and his tone made it clear it wasn't. As well as the way he busied himself cleaning tools he didn't seem to need in order to talk to her. "The only thing any news has covered," Monica explained, moving to stand closer to the wall, leaning back against it though her eyes remained entirely on him. "Is the attack on Icarus." She was fairly certain that was the focus of the news only because they had caught the footage live. She didn't bother to ask if Icarus was alright. She knew Tim's reaction to hearing his codename would be enough to tell her that. "I have other sources," she added, though it was probably clear she wasn't going to reveal any of her sources. She liked being cryptic after all. She pushed off from the wall, moving closer to him and taking the tools he was cleaning from his hands. She didn't bother to look at them, to see what they were, her eyes remaining on her, steady yet with a touch of concern. "It's alright to not be fine," she said after a moment of just watching him quietly, "It's alright to be tired." She paused for another moment before adding, "You look tired, Tim."

... why did love put a gun in my hand? In my bed, in my head, in my hand. was it for redemption? was it for revenge? ... valkyrie Timothy Smith outfit 442 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Timothy Smith]

Monica had a point when she said that the poisons might be different. He looked up at one of the cameras and nodded at it. Alice would know what to do and tell the med guys what to do, and keep Monica out of it all.

He appreciated that Monica was keeping tabs on things. It felt like she was looking out for him. He didn’t feel like he deserved any sort of attention like that, but it felt nice that someone cared. What he didn’t like was that she knew things that hadn’t left the building yet. He chased the rabbit trail of how exactly he might bring up that Aegis might have a mole, a leak, somewhere that needed to be plugged without revealing how he found it out, drawing suspicion to himself, or getting Monica in trouble.

But then again, it could always have just been Alice telling Monica to come check on him. He wouldn’t put that past her. That, or it could be Monica was just that good. He wouldn’t put that past her

Tim didn’t react significantly when she mentioned Icarus. He was going to be fine. He was going to have a badass scar, but ultimately he was going to be okay. “I’m glad the papers haven’t really picked it up yet. That’s the last thing Aegis needs right now.”

She took his tools. Why did she take his tools away he needed to clean those he needed to keep working so—

Oh. She could see. She could tell.

“I-I’m fine! It’s nothing. I’m a little tired, sure, but that’s nothing an energy drink or a few volts from the wall outlet can’t fix. Hey, maybe I’ll fly by the power plant and pick up some juice directly. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Nothing to worry about here. Every’s completely A-okay.”

It clearly wasn’t. His hair was a mess, the lab, while clean, was very clearly in a state of... interesting organization.

“Everything’s fine, Ms. Stane.”

Monica Stane

[Monica Stane]

She didn't comment on the papers instead silently waiting for his reaction to her comments. She could tell the moment it dawned on him that the fact that he wasn't okay was evident. She could tell the moment the gears in his mind starting turning, trying to come up with lies or ways to brush off her concerns. She'd been able to tell that since he'd been a child, when he and Ivan had gotten in trouble at school and she'd told his parents she'd handle picking both of them up. Then came him insisting everything was fine. He insisted far too much for that to be the truth. When everything was fine, that fact typically didn't need to be repeated so much. She thought he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than her. Maybe he didn't want to admit not everything was alright. Maybe he didn't want to admit it to himself. Monica glanced around at the lab before arching an eyebrow at him. The lab was enough to discredit his words. She knew him well enough to know it wasn't usually this much of a mess. Yes, he'd always seemed a bit all over the place to her but he was usually more organized that this. The lab seemed like the kind of mess someone would slap the word organized on in order to pretend it wasn't a pig's sty. She leveled her gaze with him once he was finished prattling on about everything being fine when it clearly wasn't. "Do not insult my intelligence, Timothy," she stated in the clear warning that had always gone along with a mother's voice. The same warning that told a kid they had said the wrong thing, perhaps even talked back. "Everything doesn't always have to be fine," she continued, her tone softening a little. "I have eyes and I can tell that everything is not fine." She reached forward, gripping his chin and moving his head so he'd be forced to meet her eyes. "You look like you haven't slept in a long time." Her own gaze hardened. "And don't you dare try to deny it." She released his chin from her grasp. "You and I both know I've seen that same look on Ivan."

... why did love put a gun in my hand? In my bed, in my head, in my hand. was it for redemption? was it for revenge? ... valkyrie Timothy Smith outfit 379 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Timothy Smith]

He was getting tired. In general, yes, but more specifically of this. First Cass noticed and did her ghost therapy thing with him, and now Monica was catching on... He had to come up with something to hide it better. More caffeine? Vitamin B12? Ginseng? He'd figure it out later.

He pushed away from Monica and pointedly looked away. "If I'm not fine, I will be soon. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm doing my work and getting things done. I'm trying to make it so that we don't get attacked again. I'm figuring out ways to increase security. I'm trying to figure out how to cure Nihilo, and maybe even track him. I'm trying to make a better ballistic fabric that agents can use for their uniforms. I'm busy, okay? I have a lot on my plate and I'm handling it."

He picked up the sample and put it away in a case made to keep them cold. "I'm an adult. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for 9 years. And I've done pretty well for myself, I like to think."

He kept moving through the lab, avoiding meeting Monica's eyes as much as he could. Doing various tasks. Cleaning this up, starting that centrifuge, pulling a sample out of the scanner, checking the 3D printer to make sure the lastest test print hadn't failed... It helped keep him distracted from the matter at hand. Helped keep him from actually thinking about his problems and dealing with them.

"I don't have to explain myself to you. You're not my mom."

He paused, looking down sadly at his reflection in the beaker he had picked up to put away. His next words were barely a whisper. "She's dead."

Monica Stane