December 21st. Morning. It's early when Vasquez jerks awake. She's managed to tangle herself up in the blankets as she slept, and her left arm has been pinned underneat her and fallen asleep. She violently tears herself free from the sheets, unsteady breaths filling the silent bedroom as she sits up, staring into the dark. She brings her arm in front of her and rubs it with her right hand as she gets her bearings, eyes adjusting to the
#RedrockAgency – November 8, 2019
dark. Bad dreams, bad memories. Trapped in her own body, nothing working like it should. Mind covered in a haze, just lying in bed, day after day. But sensation returns, as does dexterity, fingers soon moving at her command as bloodflow returns. A wave of relief, but her heart is still pounding and her breaths are fast and shallow. It's pitch black outside, or it would be if this wasn't Aite. Here, Litae's guiding glow illuminates, albeit
faintly, the shape of Jason next to her. By some miracle she's managed not to wake him. She lies back down for a moment, crawling closer and closing her eyes. She lingers there, listening to his breathing until her own matches and her heart has stopped racing. It's definitely early, but there's little chance of sleep, and she doesn't have the heart to wake Jason, so after a soft kiss against his cheek she slips away for a quick shower. An
Jason isn't an early riser under the best of conditions. He's not a deep sleeper, either, however, so Vasquez does usually function as his morning alarm. When she gets up and starts her day, it's usually an indication that he should start getting up. Most of the time that just results in him rolling over and getting a few more hours in, of course, but the lack of morning light through the window on this day is enough to give him
pause, eyes straining against that early morning haze. For a moment he just remains there, eyelids heavy, only half sitting up as he sways in place, listening to the sound of the shower. Chalking her early start up to a bout of morning sickness, he draws in a deep breath and decides he should probably do his part and he begrudgingly scoots towards the edge of the bed. It takes another minute or so from the time his feet hit
the floor for his mind to finish waking up, eyes staring at a random spot on the floor as he tries to fight back that urge to roll over and get a few more hours in. But if she can do the heavy lifting and deal with puking her guts out and the rest of the perks that accompany carrying a baby for nine months, the least he can do is get up and try to help where he can. Elbow pressed against his thigh he leans forward, synthetic
The sound of running water soon stops. A short while later Vasquez emerges from the bathroom, fully dressed. She'd brought her clothes with her to get dressed without having to flip the lights in the main room, an effort that proves in vain as she spots Jason sitting on the edge of the bed. She's in jeans rather than the fatigue pants usually favored around the base, although the tanktop is ever-present. Her hair's still down, and damp
from the shower. There's a soft sigh as she studies Jason, a faint smile crossing her lips. "Was trying to let you sleep a bit longer..." she comments as she heads over to the dresser to grab a hairtie for later. Even a quick shower has done a good job of clearing her head and washing away some of the remnants of the nightmare. If there wasn't so much to get done she might have aimed to get a morning workout in before heading out.
Jason is still only half awake, sporting a serious case of bed head and a pair of dark grey boxer briefs with a white Alliance insignia just above the left leg. Vestiges of a past life that he's just too lazy to do away with despite the faded logo so they've been relegated to 'sleepwear'. He gives a small roll of his shoulders when Vasquez addresses him, glancing her way with one eye open, "Hmmm? No I-... I've been up. Was
just-..." he lies in a mutter, blinking away the sleep, "...trying to convince myself to get up. Thinking about making some breakfast. Think we've still got some of that leftover pizza from yesterday..." he offers before a bit of clarity shouts at him through the morning haze, reminding him that's probably not what she wants to hear. "Or-... or eggs? I could whip up some-... it's up to you." he offers, silently hoping she
goes for option A. Breakfast pizza, breakfast pizza, breakfast pizza, he silently chants, hoping to will it into fruition.
Vasquez stops briefly in place, grimacing slightly to herself at the first suggestion. The second one garners more serious consideration. "Eggs? Sure." she agrees with a small smirk and a glance Jason's way as she heads for the door, grabbing her coat from the hook next to it. She can practically hear the tiny Halisi on her shoulder telling her not to skip breakfast.
Jason continues his silent chant as Vasquez considers the offer. Breakfast pizza! Why is she-... what's that face she's making...? She's considering it! She's considering it!! She's totally going for the breakfast piz-... Fuck! He props up a soft, tired smile as she chooses the dastardly eggs. "Yeah, I could really-... really go for some-..." PIZZA, "...eggs." he agrees.
"Just... give me a few minutes to-..." he trails off, "I should shower first." he explains as she starts towards the door.
Vasquez briefly considers dismissing the offer so she can get going right away, but she reminds herself that she's up earlier than planned anyway, and instead offers Jason a nod before heading off towards the rec room. After asking Fergus to turn on the news she gets a pot of coffee brewing and puts some bread in the toaser.
Jason arrives in the rec room a short time later looking a little more like himself. Long-sleeved white shirt. Black pants. Boots. What has pretty much become his standard uniform by this point. He passes a glance towards the screen as he starts towards the kitchenette. "So... uhh... you're up early. Earlier than usual, I mean." he corrects as he gets to work on retrieving supplies from the fridge. Just an attempt at making idle
chit-chat as he's pretty confident in his assumption for the reason for her early start. As he's setting aside things to make breakfast, that sweet, sweet leftover pizza taunts him from the top rack of the fridge, causing him to glance back over his shoulder Vasquez' way. Confident that he could probably get away with keeping his back to her as he works, he quickly opens the box and scoops a slice up, gripping the cold pizza
between his teeth to free his hands up, he gathers the supplies atop the counter and scoots them down over towards the stove.
Vasquez is just about pouring herself a cup of coffee by the time Jason arrives, and she glances his way, her initial response just a small shrug as she brings the cup closer and smells the coffee fumes. If she can only have one cup she's going to savor it, damn it. "Figured I might as well get an early start, I've got a lot to do today." she says after a little while, the tone of her voice hinting that there's more to her early
wakeup, but leaving it unsaid as she heads over to stand behind the couch, watching the news broadcast (and leaving Jason's stealthy pizza acquisition unnoticed). The current segment seems to be mostly Christmas fluff, a little break from the harsh realities of the galaxy. Yesterday had been a busy day too by all indications - Vasquez was out for most of it, and spent the evening in her office.
Jason begins to get to work on breakfast. He's far from a chef, but even he can't screw up scrambled eggs and bacon. "Mmmhmm." he agrees, keeping his response short and sweet to mask the slice of pizza dangling from his mouth. Once his hands are free he takes a nice big bite from his slice and pulls it from his mouth. "Didn't hear the alarm go off so I figured it was probably-... uhh-... you know. Puke problems." he explains with
Vasquez lets out a quiet snort in response to Jason's... special way with words. She takes a sip from her coffee and crosses her arms loosely as she watches the TV. "No." she assures with a slight shake of her head and a quick glance his way. "It's-... it's been fine last few days, actually." she explains. "Halisi says I shouldn't expect it to last though..."
Jason gives a small snort. "Great..." he says on her behalf as he prods at the sizzling food. He watches the low-effort news segment, brow furrowing as one of the regular anchors speaks. "Can't stand that guy." he muses, absently taking another bite of his pizza before continuing to speak with a mouthful of pizza without thinking, "...He just has one of those faces, you know? Very punchable."
Vasquez snickers quietly as Jason voices his dislike for the news anchor, shooting a questioning look his way only to catch him speaking while munching down on pizza leftovers. She rasies an eyebrow as if to say 'Really?' before shaking her head and turning her gaze back to the screen as it moves on to reporting on the latest Terminus conflict. Or the latest conflict to be picked up by Citadel Space news, anyhow. Terminus-based
networks barely extend beyond the local. Seems like the defeat of the Collectors is starting to fade from the news in time for the holidays. A few moments pass in silence before Vasquez sighs. "I'm probably gonna be out for... well, all day, actually. Can I count on you to-..." she stops herself as she casts another glance towards the man by the stove with a mouthful of cold pizza. "...I'll... just ask Fergus to hold my
Jason pauses his chewing, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he sees the judgement in her eyes. Thankfully she doesn't comment on it. But a few moments later, her sudden change of heart causes him to furrow his brow and look her way, once more finding himself right back under her scrutiny. "Wha-... there's vegetables on it! Balanced breakfast!" he argues, speaking through another bite and holding the slice of pizza up
as if to show her. He looks the slice over himself in an attempt at pointing her towards some evidence. There's a multitudes of different local meats, most of which he probably could've even remember the name of, but little else. "There was vegetables on it! I tasted them!" he assures defensively, his argument growing a little deflated.
Vasquez brings her free hand up, rubbing her temples with an exasperated sigh, although there's a hint of fondness in the way her lip tugs briefly upward as her hand lowers. "Fergus will hold my calls." she repeats, hiding the smile that threatens to escape with a sip of coffee. "Shouldn't be anything urgent today anyway."
Jason gives her an unamused look. "I think I can handle manning the phones today." he insists with a look of mock offense. Something seems to occur to him, however, causing him to wince. "Uhh-... for a few hours anyway. I was planning on swinging by the Respite this afternoon-..." feeling the need to get out ahead of any incoming judgement, he puts a hand up to stop Vasquez from making any assumptions. "To check in on V! Figured
I should swing by and bring her up to speed on everything after, you know, chatting up her secret agent step-mother..." he explains as he turns his attention back to the food, tactically deciding to leave out the part about Shane meeting him there for a few drinks. "...Where are you going, anyway?" he asks in hope of moving the focus away from him and his afternoon excursion.
Vasquez shoots Jason an amused look over her coffee as he insists on his phone-answering competence. The mention of the Respite is quick to wipe her amusement away, however, replaced by a fledgling scowl, but that too is cut short by the mention of Va'ynna, a sigh slipping out as her gaze wanders to the window. She nods in response to what seems like a valid reason, the question that follows bringing her attention back to Jason,
and drawing out a faint, if slightly tired smile. "Three days 'til Christmas." she points out. "We've got a lot of stuff to sort out. I reached out to the imports place and some people down at the market to make arrangements. Gonna be picking up food, decorations, couple of gifts. Might go get the tree sorted if I've got time. " she counts off on her free hand. "Got a meeting with the Matriarch this afternoon, not sure how
Jason continues to poke the breakfast around the pan with a spatula before shooting a somewhat surprised look Vasquez' way at her sudden festive mood. He had figured they'd just use their usual- tried and true- 3-step method for sprucing the place up on special occasions. Step 1: Ask Jasper to do all the work. Step 2: Jasper does all the work. Step 3: The work is done. Her mention of the imports place causes him to snort. "Well,
just a heads up. I wouldn't get your hopes up in the gift department this year. Because I've got you beat." he assures proudly, glancing her way and giving the spatula a little flip before catching it by the handle and pointing at her with it. "I came prepared. Put my orders in a while back."
Vasquez raises an eyebrow, shooting Jason an amused look as she heads over to grab the bread from the toaster and check on his progress at the stove. "It's just the last few things. Got most of them sorted already." she assures with a smirk as she places a piece of toast on a plate for each of them. "I, uh... I guess I didn't mention last night, but I stopped by Leah's place and dropped off a couple of gifts for her and Tara,
actually." she says, her voice quieting a little. She butters the toast before placing the plates on the counter next to the stove and grabbing her coffe cup again, taking another sip.
Jason turns off the heat on the stove, seemingly having deemed the food done. He pulls each of the plates that Vasquez has prepared closer and then begins scraping up eggs and bacon to slop onto each of them- the half-eaten slice of pizza joining the rest of the food on his own plate. Breakfast pizza! Her mention of Leah causes him to glance her way once more. "...Yeah?" he asks softly. "How are they doing? Sounds like that
Vasquez lets out a sigh, her gaze lingering on her plate for a moment before she grabs it with a nod. "No doubt." she agrees. "But... they seemed to be doing... okay. As okay as you can expect for either of them, yeah?" she says, a faint hint of a smile crossing her lips at the though of her visit. She heads over towards the table with plate in hand, taking a seat. "They were busy decorating when I got there." she explains with a
small snicker. "It's the girl's first Christmas, just like Li." she adds, although she quickly speaks again rather than letting the conversation rest on the grim causes behind that for both of them. "They definitely have us beat when it comes to the decorations." A snicker accompanies the words, although it rings a little hollow as her mind can't help but linger.
Jason also finds himself unable to keep from considering all of the tragedy that has surrounded both of the girls mentioned, but does his best to keep from dwelling on it. Hell, it hasn't been the best of years for Leah, either. There's a constant reminder of that fact hung on the gym wall. Truth be told, it's been a rough one for everyone. But maybe their luck is starting to change. Finally. Vasquez' comment about them decorating
helps to bring the smile back to his face. Despite his frustration over the manner in which Leah and the others went about dealing with House Bar'adon, there's no doubt that he believes in the intentions behind it. "Guessing the kid is feeling in over her head with all of this." he says with a snicker and a shake of his head as he accompanies her over to the table and sets his eggs, bacon, and pizza breakfast down before
setting back out to get himself cup of coffee. "But if there's anyone up to the task of bringing her up to speed, it's Leah..." he continues, shooting Vasuqez a knowing glance as if to ensure she realizes he doesn't mean that in an entirely complimentary capacity. "...Probably without bothering to take a breath..." he adds in a mutter.
Vasquez snorts quietly, a small smile crossing her lips. "Had a chance to have a couple of words with her, and I'll admit, it seems like Leah's been doing a good job. She's adjusting. It's... good to see. Good for both of them, I think, after... everything..." she says, her voice quieting and trailing off as she avoids mentioning Damien by name. Her brow furrows slightly at her own inability to avoid the gravitic pull of the many
tragedies that make up the past year. She scoops some egg onto her toast as she finds herself falling silence, taking a bite to keep busy.
Jason pours himself a cup of coffee as he listens to Vasuqez, his own smile feeling a bit heavy as the implication of her words are far from lost on him. "Yeah... That's-... good." he agrees softly with a nod, bringing the cup up to his lips and letting the scent sink in before taking a sip and making his way back towards the table to take a seat. He saw a lot of people just like Tara during his time with the Alliance. Caged up
like animals, sometimes so many to a hold that there was barely enough room for them to move. It's something that sticks with you. And there's that question that always lingers. What happened to them after they left the Beirut? Did the system work for them? Did the Alliance make good on their promises? Are they out there, living their lives? Putting up Christmas decorations in anticipation of the festivities like Tara? There
was a time when he believed in the system wholeheartedly, but after the Alliance's response (Or lack of response, as the case may be) regarding the Collectors and his run-in with Agent Lessard? Well, these days it's better off if he doesn't dwell on those sorts of questions. There's a short bout of awkwardness as he pointedly avoids commenting on things that would only further steer the conversation down an unpleasant
path. "So-... uhh-... the Matriarch?" he asks in an obvious attempt at changing the subject, glancing over to Vasquez as he reaches for his slice of cold pizza, opting for it over eggs. "What's the meeting about?"
Vasquez eats in silence for a time as both of them refuse to lead the conversation further down heavy paths. The attempt at changing the subject is as welcome as it is transparent, and she puts down her coffee cup as she looks up at Jason. "New contract. Long-term one. Didn't want to say anything until it's signed, but... it seems like a pretty sure thing. Syranis likes to hire local, and Redrock's proven that we're serious.
Jason seems to perk up a bit at the prospect of a new contract, heavy smile feeling a slight bit lighter. "Yeah? Well, shit. That's great! What's the gig?" he asks, shifting a bit in his chair as his breakfast temporarily takes a backseat.
Vasquez gains a faint smile of her own, Jason's enthusiasm helping to bring out some of her own. "Security for a construction site outside of town. Haven't gotten an exact location yet, they're trying to keep it quiet until security's been arranged to minimize the risk of raids, but it's supposed to be about a day's travel by ground. Since it's outside of rapid response range we're looking at maintaining a garrison on-site, as
well as riding shotgun on the supply caravans." Vasquez has slipped into work-mode as she goes over the basics of the contract, food forgotten and elbows planted firmly on the table as she gestures to emphasize her words, hints of clear excitement shining through. "It'll be our biggest long-term contract so far, but it's exactly the kind of opportunity we need. A stable, long-term contract with solid pay. A chance to earn
some goodwill from the Matriarch. A job for our veterans to actually sink their teeth into and a chance for our new recruits to get some experience with real security work. Let's face it, most of our people are overqualified for acting as bouncers at the Respite, and we have more people than we're able to keep busy right now."
Jason furrows his brow, whistling as Vasquez runs through the initial details. He gives a few faint nods as she continues, shooting a quick glance down towards his eggs and idly stabbing his fork into them. "Sounds like it could be a nice payday." he agrees. "Do we know how long construction is expected to last?" he asks, "It'll probably take a bit of reconfiguring the current roster if we're expecting to keep a team out there
around the clock. We don't really have the manpower to keep that up long term without shuffling in a few of the people already assigned to security posts on our current contracts. Not without pissing people off, anyway. Nobody wants to be stuck on-site for weeks... Might-... uhh-..." he trails off, realizing he might be digging into the specifics a little too early "...We'll figure all that out later." he snickers
Vasquez seems to have been about to interrupt when Jason stops himself, and she nods. "I'm confident we can figure that out when we have more details. It's likely that it's going to strain our current capability, but it's a perfect opportunity for us - we'll adapt, and grow if we need to. As for the length of construction...?" she trails off as a little grin crosses her lips, and she takes a bite of her toast with eggs, chewing
before responding. "They estimate at least 50 years." she says, the grin widening once it's out there.
Jason is just about to plop a bite of eggs into his mouth when Vasquez lists the length of construction, causing him to miss his mouth as his attention instantly shoots right back to her, eyes wide as a forkful of eggs falling onto the table. He shoots a frustrated glance down at his lost bite before resting his gaze right back on the woman across from him. "Fifty years?!" he repeats, his concern for employees having to
potentially spend weeks on-site now seeming laughable in retrospect. "The fuck are they building out there that's gonna take them 50-fucking-years?! An elevator to another planet?!"
Vasquez seems amused by Jason's reaction, taking the time to have another bite from her toast before responding. "This isn't technically public information yet, so nobody else hears about it until the contract is signed and we're briefing the team..." she starts, reflexively leaning forward a little, crossing her arms against the table. "Technically it's a research station, but from what the Matriarch's people have told me it's
more like a big-ass bunker dug into the side of a mountain. One of the lead scientists called it the crown jewel of their work here on Aite. They're gonna cram it full of every kind of sensor and analysis system you can imagine, and when the moon comes down?" she says, jabbing a thumb up at the ceiling. "They're sealing it up and documenting the whole thing."
Jason's brow furrows as he listens. His eyes flick up, following Vasquez' thumb as she indicates the moon high above. When she reaches the end of her explanation, he remains silent, merely blinking a few times. "So-... So it's just some sort of... super-nerd lab...?" he muses, vastly simplifying what is probably an unprecedented research venture. Seeming entirely unimpressed- or perhaps unaware that he should be impressed- he
merely reaches down to pluck his lost eggs up from the table with his fingers and popping it into his mouth. With a lopsided smirk he snorts and shrugs his shoulders, speaking through a mouthful of eggs, "Whatever. Sounds like credits to me."
Vasquez lets out a snort and shakes her head with an amused, if a little exasperated look. "More or less. And yes, it's a solid - and hopefully reliably long-term - payday for Redrock." she says. It's not hard to tell that there's some interest in the work the researchers are doing in there in addition to the obvious interest in what the contract would mean for Redrock. Maybe she's her mother's daughter in more ways than one.
Maybe spending most of her private security career working for ExoGeni isn't entirely a coincidence. Or maybe a massive bunker meant to withstand apocalyptic conditions is just interesting. With that, she takes another sip of her coffee, amusement slowly fading as her expression turns thoughtful.
Jason gestures towards Vasquez with his fork, brow perking up as he does. "Know what? You should try buttering her up about a bit of real estate." he suggests, giving a firm nod to accompany his negotiation advice. "I mean, if we're gonna sign on for a fifty-..." just saying it aloud again seems to remind him just how insane of a prospect this might be. "Fifty?!" he repeats in astonishment, leaning forward a bit in his seat,
"Fifty year contract-..." His eyes widen momentarily and he gives a small shake of his head, nostrils flairing slighty as he draws in a deep breath. "...Might as well try and get her to sweeten the pot by helping to set us up with a place of our own when we're ready, right? Sounds like we're here for the long haul..." he muses fondly as his thoughts are pulled back to their previous talk. For so long their future has
seemed so unceartain. But it seems like, for the first time in as long as he can remember, the pieces are finally starting to fall into place. The threat that has loomed over their heads for as long as he's known her is finally gone. They have a baby on the way. Opportunities on the horizon. It's impossible for him to keep his dumb, lopsided smirk in check as he gives her a few wiggles of his eyebrows. "Eh? Eh? Maybe wave a
few fees for setting us up with basic utilities? If she can afford to spend the next fifty-..." again it seems to catch him off guard, the pitch of his voice raising as he repeats the estimate, "...fifty years putting together the nerdiest bunker known to man, she can sure as shit afford to hook us up with some electricity when the time comes."
Vasquez looks up from her coffee, a small grin slowly creeping across her lips once more. "I... might've already been planning to mention it." she admits with a little shrug. "I figure it can't hurt to bring up that we're looking to settle down properly here. Shows we're serious about sticking around long-term, if anything. And like I said, this contract ought to earn us some goodwill down at the Foundation..."
Jason's smirk softens, attention fixed to the woman across the table from him. "...Yeah." he says simply. So this is it. Life. Real life. Married. A baby on the way. Planning for the future. This is what it's like to finally crawl out from under the crushing weight of that shadow that's loomed over them for so long... A few moments pass before he realizes he's staring and tears his gaze away, turning his focus back to his
eggs, dumb smirk remaining. "Sounds like this could be a good opportunity for us..." he muses softly as he stabs a few more eggs onto his fork.
Vasquez expression softens into a small smile as she returns Jason's gaze from across the table, forgetting about her food for a moment. It's strange to be talking about the future with a feeling of hope in her heart. But it feels good. Achievable. In her mind future Christmases are playing through her head. In a home of their own. Separate from this fortress. Private. Harmless. Safe. She knows she wants it more than ever after
visiting Leah. She wants that for their child. A real home. A real family. A proper Christmas. Decorating together. Watching them open their presents. So far away and yet so close. It feels alien to insert herself into that role, like she wasn't meant for that, and there's that voice at the back of her mind telling her that she can't be that after everything that's happened. Everything she's done. But it doesn't stop her