What the hell? What was wrong with Jason? Oh, right. He rolled his eyes when it became clear that the problem was the guy's faggy suit or Stephanie or something-- whatever. In a second Rudy had his phone out and entertained himself for a few minutes by playing games on it, his thumbs moving with the practiced speed from having spent 50% of his life in front of a hundred different game systems. But after the 7th time he died, and Jason started screaming in Patten's face, his attention was diverted back into the conversation, a restless expression skittering over his features. Weren't they done yet? Yeah, yeah, fuck, 'I'm Jason and I'm gonna die and it serves me right for tricking people into getting their asses kicked by an A-1-- blahblahblah!'
The irritation he felt towards Jason's pathetic bawling was only alleviated by the bold and out of line things the guy was saying, and Rudy waited in malicious anticipation for Eric to beat the crap out of someone else for a change. But Eric disappointingly failed to punish the guy when Jason started whining about Stephanie again and Rudy exhaled heavily, in irritation. It wouldn't be so bad hearing all of this dumb shit about Steph and this queerbait gettin' it on, but he just didn't have the time for it right now. Every minute that ticked by he felt a growing pressure weighing down on him, and obsessively, he checked his phone to make sure his target wasn't blowing things up yet.
10 minutes was entered into the time slot and the spots of fire from before were gone - but he knew where they had been. That was a good sign. That meant it was something Ozzie had control over and she hadn't just set a fire and left something burning - like a building or a person. But until she started another fire, she was off of his radar and he was divided about wanting her to use it, so he could find her, and desperately hoping that she wouldn't, so that no one else could.
Back in Eric and Unitard Man's world, he realized things were coming to a close and eagerly got himself ready to start talking a mile a minute to the man who could, and probably would, save him. But Jason just wouldn't just shut the fuck up and then... the most unfair thing in the universe happened.
What. The. Fuck?!
Did that really just happen? Eric overturned Jason's demotion - which Rudy'd had no clue about until now - and for what? Oh. Okay. That was great. Fucking perfect. So, not only did that gay-ass loser get away with screaming and cussing at an A-1, but now he was being rewarded because Eric apparently wanted to fulfill a life-long dream of being "Agency matchmaker". How did that even make sense?!
Rudy hated his life. He really did. But now, he hated Jason even more. No. Not hate. Hate wasn't a strong enough word to describe the depth of the loathing currently aimed in Jason's direction. Not only did that dick trick him into screwing up his own chances at redemption - and got him into deeper shit than he would have on his own - but NOW, because those two were best fucking buddies, Jason got everything he wanted from Eric, handed to him on a silver platter. And there was nothing, no pain, no punishment or obvious trade of goods and skills that preceded it - the way that Eric was demanding from Rudy. Eric just gave it to him.
As Eric walked by and touched his head, Rudy became distracted from his new mission to glare a hell-fire hole through Jason's skull. Remembering his own problems, he quickly turned to Patten to start talking his ear off, but froze when he realized he wasn't prepared for Round 2. Did he have everything he needed to make sure things went his way, this time? Sure, Graninger had agreed to give him Fenton but... Rudy didn't trust that guy. It was very possible that he would wait here forever for this invincible man who might never show up. There was nothing tying the puppeteering A-2 to the deal they'd made except his word - and that wasn't worth anything to Quin. Rudy had asked for something and Graninger had verbally offered him something. They weren't friends and not only did Graninger not owe him anything but Rudy most certainly wasn't selling anything valuable. It wasn't a done deal until his bargaining chip actually got here.
So, he wasn't ready. He couldn't do this now. But even as he watched Eric leave the room, he realized he couldn't wait for Fenton to get here either. He NEEDED to move now or else he'd lose everything. But first...
Looking over at Jason, an ugly sneer crossed Rudy's face as he surged forward to close the distance between them. "You stupid fuck!" he hissed through clenched teeth, violently shoving Jason in the chest with one hand. Then he was talking, his normally quick speech pattern speeding up to abnormal levels as the volume of his voice increased and filled with unbridled rage.
"They weren't sleeping together, asshole! You got me in a lot of trouble with that trick you pulled! Oh, yeah, REAL funny - my neck almost got turned into taffy by fucking King Kong because of you! Laugh it up while you can you son of a bitch! This shit ain't over and I won't forget! You'll be sorry!"
He had to get out of here. He had to find Ozzie. Turning around, he stalked grumpily towards the door, and just because he couldn't help himself and he was still buzzing with that intoxicating rush of anger, he paused in the doorway to shoot his mouth off some more. "Oh, and congratulations to you and that psychotic slut. Really, truly. You guys are fucking made for each other. And it's great to see that she's finally gotten more discriminate about who she sleeps with. Hell, even I got a ride and I didn't even deserve it. I didn't even have to fuckin' earn it.
"But, you know, I shouldn't be telling you that. I'm sorry. I'll shut my mouth. Go ahead and live happily ever after and continue to hump her brains out. Just one last word of caution, from a guy who knows her history: if I were you, I'd get myself tested for ADD and SPDs before I committed to anything." Those were real things, right? "Smell you later, queer."
Alright, enough of that. He had more important things to worry about right now than that skanky cunt's love-life. He wasn't jealous. He just didn't want either of those two to be happy, especially after what they'd both put him through. He should have never grabbed Gwen Stewart and for probably the hundredth time today, he regretted the path his life had taken as a result of that one bad decision. That stupid cow's bad luck would never wash off of him... Whatever; moving on.
Back in the hallway, Rudy started walking quickly, his new Agency-issue boots clacking hollowly whenever there wasn't any carpet to muffle the sound. Weaving through the maze, his mind was a blur, his brain scrabbling frantically as he tried to figure out what he had to do next. Okay, the Yugo was still in the garage - hopefully - he could use that to catch up to her without wasting too much time. He just needed to get to the elevator without being stopped and THEN figure out where she was and where she was headed. And then he had to figure out a way to scare her off without a team of guys to fling at her.
Repeatedly, Rudy glanced behind and around himself, not stopping as he continued to speed walk through the shadowed corridors, but there was no sign of anyone either behind or in front of him. And alright, he admitted it; now that he'd decided what he was going to do, he was terrified of running into Patten and needing to explain himself. Well... what did it matter, anyway? It wasn't like he'd been ordered to stick around. All of the shit that was currently going on around here had nothing to do with him. He could leave whenever he wanted. They didn't need him.
Finding the elevator, he impatiently pressed the button over and over, and warily watched his surroundings to make sure no one was coming. He knew the real reason he was sweating was not whether Eric would let him leave or not. It was the probability of being asked WHY he was leaving. He could always lie - in fact, he enjoyed doing so, frequently. But there was something about Eric that made him feel like the man could see right through him; like he couldn't hide. He'd be exposed no matter what he said and then he'd be dead.
Finally the elevator opened and he slipped inside and agitatedly pressed the button to go down, his eyes darting around nervously before the doors finally closed. Releasing a small breath, he relaxed just the tiniest bit as the elevator descended, having successfully made it past the first obstacle. Now he just needed to get into his car and get to Osono before she attracted any attention. He had to get her out of the city somehow without compromising her trust in him, and he had to keep her away from the Charlton base and out of Agency hands. And most importantly, he had to do it before Alexander arrived and kicked the fucking beehive.
40 minutes, Patten had said.
***
As soon as the girl fell unconscious again, Ozzie let out a breath and visibly relaxed. Glad that's over. She'd been more than willing to allow Xander to step in and take over, even though it meant SHE was left with the job of punisher in case the Agent got out of line. It hadn't seemed like it would be a problem because the catsuit lady was pathetically broken down and pretty much willing to do anything to salvage her life. That had changed during the second part of the interrogation. Osono didn't understand how or why they'd been made but she did know when it had happened. And in her opinion, everything went downhill from that point forward.
Now, even though she was happy she no longer had to deal with pretending to be a merciless psychopath, she almost wanted to continue to torture the hell out of the girl just to get some truthful answers. In response to Alex's question: No. Osono did not believe anything that girl had said. But for lack of any other leads at the moment, she kept her mouth shut and helped Alex shove the Agent back into the darkness of the trunk.
The continued banter between the two men was enough of a distraction to keep her from worrying about where this address would lead them, and she found herself smiling again at their comfortable, yet aggressive, familiarity with each other. And it was really strange but it had almost become normal to see both voices coming out of the same mouth. After a while, she could forget that there wasn't two guys physically present. Even though she had nothing to contribute to the current topic, she listened interestedly anyway, taking in each new bit of information voraciously, hungry to finally understand this organization after all of these years.
A smile curled on her lips to hear Xander explain to Alex why he'd become an Agent and the reasons he eventually got himself shoved inside the guy's head. And it was made even funnier because of Alex's reactions to it. Sliding into the driver's seat, she felt as if a weight was lifted off of her shoulders and despite where they were going and what they were going to do, she no longer felt on edge and paranoid while in the car with him/them. So Xander wasn't like the others. He wasn't like Peter. Even though he'd still joined the Agents and still apathetically talked about the process like they weren't talking about what they were talking about, Osono no longer considered him a part of that group. In fact, she even sympathized with him - a lot, actually - and she understood the appeal and power his position and training must have given him. Even though her life wasn't much of a life anymore, she did admit that she enjoyed fighting and beating the crap out of her enemies. Her fear of being killed or captured was constantly balanced by her ability to completely decimate everyone around her, almost effortlessly.
As soon as Alex typed the address into the GPS, Osono restarted the car and used the parking lot to turn around and head back out the way they'd come in. She kept her eyes on the road, alert and watchful now that the streets were dark with only the light of street lamps to keep the roads from disappearing, but she continued to listen quietly. One thing that occurred to her while Xander explained things was what was Rudy's rank and department or whatever? She had a hard time believing that he was in any position of authority at all - even though as Xander had been kind enough to point out, the biggest requirement seemed to be brawn over brains - because he just wasn't that type of person. Stubborn, persistent and manipulative, Rudy didn't have the confidence or the balls to make anyone willingly follow him. Then again... she was no longer afraid to admit that there was a lot she didn't know about him.
She also wondered once again if Rudy knew about the transfers and whether or not he was trying to capture her so that HE could transfer into her - that would be weird... and creepy - and why he became an Agent. Was it a simple "Nothing better to do" like Xander or was his story more complex than that? Did he believe and support the Agency goals or was he just "trying to do his job"?
Adjusting her grip on the steering wheel, Ozzie glared out the windshield when she realized what she was doing. She was making excuses for him - again - and trying to find reasons why she shouldn't kill him on sight as soon as she saw him. It didn't matter why he'd joined the Agency or what his motivations were. He was still a liar and had stolen 6 years of her life. Opportunities, relationships, dreams; crushed, broken, missed and discarded. She could have gotten over herself at some point and actually do something productive with her life. She could have reconciled with her parents and gotten to be by her mother's side before she died of cancer. She could have found a Satanist-anarchist-metalhead boyfriend and taken him home to tease her folks with promises to marry him. All wasted and fucking gone now.
No more excuses. She wanted her life back and the little idiot was going to pay for everything she'd lost.
Realizing that the mood in the car had changed, and not just from her but from those two as well, she glanced at Alex and smirked playfully. "So... wow. Xander's dream job involves kicking in faces and punching people? Be still, my heart." When Alex looked at her she let out a raspy, teasing laugh and slapped his left knee.
Then something occurred to her. "Hey... wait a minute... Does Gwen know about Xander?" Well, she had to, didn't she? If she had mind powers and all. "Which one of you is she dating? Or are you both bangin' her? You are, aren't you?" She smiled knowingly and cocked a lewd eyebrow. "You dogs." Another sly chuckle left her throat.
***
The biggest question that had been on her mind before she'd opened her mouth was 'Does Madeline intend to sabotage my case?' Depending on the answer, Stephanie planned on eliminating the woman right here where there was less room for Madeline to fight back - or run away, but she doubted the A-2 would do that. But apparently she did not see Stephanie as a threat and she wasn't falling for her helpless act. Even so, listening to her, it didn't seem like she really understood Stephanie at all. And that led Stephanie to come to two conclusions: Either Madeline was stupid or she was faking too.
She could make a case for both being true since the other Agent did a great job of running in circles with her words, saying just enough to inspire doubt without really saying anything. If she was an idiot, then she pitied March more than she saw her as an actual opponent. That was good. It meant Stephanie didn't need to kill her and they could both leave each other alone and stay out of each other's way. But whatever feelings of sympathy or responsibility that Madeline felt towards Stephanie's situation, from what she was warning against, her 'concern' was largely misplaced.
She would have Gwen and she would have Jason. Stephanie was not worried about losing either, but even so, Madeline's grim predictions of the future did not sound like a bad way to live. So long as she was out of this flawed and disgusting body she would be perfect, and everything that followed would be the whipped topping on her existence. She'd still be alive and starting fresh. Besides, Stephanie wouldn't lose herself completely so long as she had Jason by her side. And not only did she believe he would be there, but Madeline assured her that he would be safe from harm and able to fill that position and Gary confirmed that her partner was ready and willing to do so.
But if this show of concern was just a large fabrication, then she was only making herself seem unthreatening to Stephanie's case and eventual transformation. Without meaning to, Stephanie's first impulse was to take Madeline at her word and roll her eyes and yawn about the whole stupid thing. However, maybe that's what Madeline was waiting for. Maybe she was trying to get her to let her guard down?
One thing was for sure: she was not bluffing about what she said Master was planning to do. She would not have offered Stephanie her phone if there was a chance that she'd take it and actually talk to him. But her reasons for even giving Stephanie a second chance at being convinced were immediately clear in what she stated would be the end result of these revelations: Madeline was trying to eliminate one of Master's devoted followers to gain some sort of point in their little war. Not trying to help her. Then she didn't listen to directions very well, did she?
"You're right. I should call him. ...At the very least, just to make sure...and shut you up."
Ignoring Gwen's progressively changing breathing patterns, Stephanie reached out and took the cell phone from the other woman's fingers. Robotically typing the numbers in, with a small exhalation of breath, she looked straight at Madeline while the speaker trilled hollowly in the small space. When she heard him answer, there was a moment's pause as she felt Gwen tugging her hand to free herself from her grasp and Stephanie looked over to find the struggling girl still half-asleep. But only just.
"Hello, Master," her dead voice greeted distractedly, readjusting her hold on Gwen and tightening her grip until her target stopped moving. "I know you're busy and I know we just spoke a little while ago, but Bergmann has been saying things... I just wanted to make sure about something-- please, don't get the wrong idea. I trust you and you've been nothing but kind and supportive of me... I adore you, Sir, and I want to believe that our goals are the same...and I want to believe that you adore me too. But I cannot go through with this if you're setting some sort of trap for me. I want the truth and I want your promise."
She looked up to stare at Madeline again and in a voice devoid of any energy, but with a touch of sarcasm, she asked him, "You said I could kill her, right? You will protect me if it could be reasonably argued that she'd been pushed down the Elmira base elevator shaft? I want your word that this won't end up harming me if an accidental death looks less like an accident and more like she tried to block bullets with her face."
There was a ten-second pause before she continued in a dull, vaguely complaining voice. "She's bothering me. My target is waking up and the current dosage of Lachesis in my system will wear off soon - I can already feel it because she's pissing me off enough that I'm very seriously considering making the helicopter window 'Lady German sized'. I cannot afford a break in my concentration right now but she won't stop screaming. Even after she's been politely threatened.
"You're an A-1. She'll obey you. Please, Master, make her shut up. Tell her not to talk to me during the rest of this ride or I'll consider it provocation and her trying to deliberately sabotage me - which is reason enough to take action to protect my case." Releasing a bored sigh, she held the phone back out to Madeline and - with just the faintest hint of smugness - stonily said, "It's for you."
***
"This is bullshit, Alex! There's nothing here!"
20 minutes later, the hilarity had been sucked out of the car and they sat, parked, in the dark, in a vacant lot. Almost immediately as soon as they started to leave the shops and office buildings behind, traded in for the slums and eventually warehouses, Osono realized that the Agent bitch had fucking lied. But the anger from this realization didn't really hit her until the little GPS arrow reached it's destination and she looked around to find nothing but an empty spot where something had once stood, with trash littered around the edges of the neighboring building. And THAT certainly wasn't an Agency base, with crumbling brick and boarded up windows, the dilapidated office looking like it was on it's last legs and ready to collapse.
Ozzie smacked the steering wheel and turned to him angrily. "What the hell are we going to do now? She's not going to tell us where it is. Not unless you let me torture her; pain will be a great motivation. I'll get her to--"
"Hey, baby. Lookin' for a date?"
Annoyed and startled, Ozzie turned her head to look at the owner of the voice and gaped at the short man standing leaning on her rolled down window. Looking the same as ever, Rudy gave her a dorky grin, as if it was the most normal thing in the world for him to appear here and now. Where did he come from? Glancing in her rearview mirror, she thought she spotted a car parked haphazardly at the edge of the lot, which maybe hadn't been there before.
"Wait, you're not a cop, are you?" he asked giving her a mockingly wary look.
With the utterance of that joke, Osono finally recovered from whatever shock she'd been in and she struggled to remember the plans she'd made to kill him. Face to face with that boyish smile and those familiar, immature mannerisms, she remembered all of the times he'd played her exactly like this in the past. Thinking about how much she let him manipulate her, and how confident he was that it would work again this time, she gritted her teeth as the rage flooded in. "Didya get it?" he asked with another confidential smile. "'Cause those are things that a hooker would say and we're in the poor section of the city. Not that I have any experience with that sort of thing or any--What the hell are you doing with THAT douchebag?!"
Finally noticing him, Rudy was suddenly pointing into the car and glaring possessively in Alex's direction, but Osono didn't let him say anything else as she snapped into action. With him leaning down into the car window like he was, Ozzie easily reached over his shoulder and grabbed a fistful of the jean jacket he was wearing, jerking it forward and over his head. He let out a muffled sound of protest, but as soon as his head popped up from the other side, her other hand - now making a fist - slammed into his face, hitting him right between the eyes and slipping his arms clean out of his sleeves.
While he stumbled back, groaning and holding his nose woundedly, Ozzie carelessly tossed the jacket towards Alex's lap, and keeping her eyes focused on Rudy, she opened her door and said, "I'll handle this." As she left the car, she took the boiling heat with her, stalking towards Rudy as he sniffled and gave her a defensive look.
"Ozzie-- Ozzie, wait! Please! Let me explain--it's not what you think!"
"Oh, it's not?!" she yelled, stomping across the hard packed dirt and kicking a crushed can out of her path. "It's been you all along! Every time I let you come back because I thought we were friends--"
"We ARE friends!"
"--but the whole time, you were the one I was really running from! Do you have any fucking clue what you've done to me?!" His mouth bobbed open to reply but her fist was there, plunging into his gut and knocking the air out of him. "You've ruined my life!" As he wheezed and coughed, doubled over, she grasped his head and shoved it down into her knee. He lost his feet and fell back onto the ground and Ozzie only stopped her attack to pick up a rusty metal pipe laying nearby.
"Always running! Always hiding! Never safe anywhere and you were always right there beside me, drawing Them to me!" He lay back on the ground, gasping fearfully, half supporting himself on his elbow and raising a hand to shield himself - a lot of good it did him when the pipe came down, smashing into his wrist. There was a dry snap and immediately, Rudy began screaming in pain, his voice actually sounding like a grown man for once, rather than the falsetto that she expected. He was silenced a second later when she swung the pipe like a golf club and his head whipped violently to the side.
Laying back on the ground, he moaned softly, his head and limbs moving weakly in vague attempts to squirm away from the pain, but remaining directionless and random. Tossing the pipe away, Ozzie crouched over him and just started punching him over and over, everywhere she could reach. And other than the occasional agonized flailing, Rudy didn't move or fight back.
"I've lost everything and everyone that matters to me! Lost my home and my family! My mother's funeral, Rudy! I never got to say goodbye to her!"
Adrenaline and heat filled her body and despite her labored breathing, she was far from finished. She'd make sure he knew everything he'd done wrong before she finally burned him alive. Grabbing the front of his T-shirt, she drew her fist back, ready to punch his face into unrecognizable mush, but she stopped. His cheek was reddened from where she'd hit him and his nose was bleeding, streaming off to the left side of his face, and he looked up at her with fear for probably the first time since they'd been together.
It made her feel weird, and she didn't know how to react, but without realizing or even consciously deciding to do it, she was suddenly kissing him instead. His body jerked beneath her at first - was he as surprised by this as she was? - but then his lips parted and he was returning it. It was like a release of aching pressure inside her, soothing and comforting to finally do this - had she really been waiting for this from him? - but it also hurt her as well.
After just 15 seconds, she pulled away, still holding him by his shirt and catching her breath. "My one good thing," she said sadly, tears filling her eyes but not falling - she mustn't do that. She couldn't be weak. Not in front of him. "My one good thing and you ruined it." The lovestruck look that had been swimming in his eyes was faded now, replaced with a bereft and confused expression, after she spoke. She glared at him and clenched her teeth. "I hate you," she said, hating him again for the way she didn't mean it and hating him some more when she had the urge to cry about it like a stupid little girl.
Rudy didn't know what to say. NONE of this was anything that he expected. His undercover persona had been shattered and there was no recovering it. But he no longer felt scared that she'd possibly kill him, drawn to her by the tears glimmering in her eyes. She was so beautiful. And sad. He'd made her sad and he was strangely proud of himself, smitten by this vulnerable side of her.
For the whole 5 minute beating, the entire world had faded away from him leaving nothing but the two of them caught in this intimate and twisted moment. But now, he remembered everything and frantically tried to bring to mind the reasoning that had pushed him to come here in the first place. There had to be a logical explanation; something he wanted to do and a direct reason why! Then an abrupt calm spread over him when he realized...and finally admitted to himself what she had become to him... what his Agency career now meant to him.
Rudy's good hand drifted up to cradle her face - and she let him touch her, seemingly waiting for some sort of response or admission of guilt from him. But he could only think of one thing to say. "I know," a soft smile touched his lips. "And I'm not sorry."
Leaning up, he captured her lips again, moving his mouth against hers, tender yet insistent. And she kissed him back.
She wished she deserved a happily ever after like that...
But she didn't and with that realization, the day-dream fell apart, revealing the soft glow of the Audi's internal lights. The closer the tiny arrow got to the star on the map, the more anxious Osono became. She was driving herself crazy wondering what they'd find when they eventually arrived at their destination. Was this really it? Was there an Agency base at the end of this road? Or did they need to find another secluded spot so Osono could burn Ms. Agent Liar's feet until she told the truth? But the biggest thing she worried about was Rudy. Would he be there? If they did happen to find him in the base, would he act like he always did or would the mask finally come off?
The thing that drove her nuts, though, was trying to figure out and plan how she would react to either scenario. If imagination Osono's opinion of her own will was any indication, things did not look good for her finally setting herself free. There was no way she'd actually let herself kiss that little fucktard. But if he started playing his geeky 'little brother' game - EVEN in the middle of the Agent's headquarters and EVEN if he happened to be wearing a uniform - she'd probably let him live. She tried to shove such an absurd decision out of the way; tried to replace it, but she couldn't deny how she truly felt about the situation. If Rudy acted like an obnoxious yet innocent man-child and told his stupid jokes, she did not feel right about just setting him on fire and watching her only friend-enemy burn alive.
But thinking of the future, it only made her mad. No! She couldn't fucking do this anymore!
Glancing down at the GPS screen, she guessed they had about 10-20 minutes before arrow and star become one. Then she cleared her throat and looked at Alex, urging herself to shut up even as she tried to convince herself to say something.
"Hey," Ozzie paused and let out a silent breath. She was so fucking stupid. "Do you think... we'll see Rudy there?" Oh, great. Could she try not to sound like a teenager hoping to see her crush at the mall? "I mean, if he is..." Okay, shut up! shut up! Shut up! Start over, dumbass!
"I've learned a lot recently and I know better now - I'm not an expert of course, but it's enough to change my mind about some things I was willing to let slide before." Another pause. How to say this?
"I can't keep doing this. And if it were anybody else, I could deal with it. Even if they keep pestering me for the rest of my life, I can deal with it. ...But not Rudy." And here comes the stupid part. "If he's there... if we see him... Can you do me a favor and...make sure I kill him? I won't ask you to do it - and don't, I don't want you to do it; I'LL do it. And I can do it. I just... need a little help, I think. If he's there and your there and it looks like I won't go through with it, can you just remind me what a scumbag he is? Remind me that I'll never have a future with him still coming after me."
Gragh! That was so pathetic and weak! Inside she raged and berated herself, skin crawling with her self-loathing, but she couldn't make herself take it back or "nevermind" it. She couldn't trust herself to be as merciless as They were.
Then as a thoughtful addition, "Please."