Viper glances Jason's way. "Mm, hate to get predictable, ruin the mystique..." she says with a wink, studying the shed skin for a moment in the light of the TV before scrunching up her face, tossing it aside and wiping her fingers on the upholstery. "...but the Prof? That was a one-off, I'll give ya that one for free. Whole broody supervillain vibe? Nooo thanks. Felt like she was gonna dissect me if I pissed her off."
#RedrockAgency – August 25, 2024
Jason looks skeptical, but keeps his thoughts to himself. "Fair enough." he says before giving a tilt of his head, "Still, doesn't answer the question." he continues, gaze shifting back Viper's way to let her know he didn't miss the fact that she conveniently sidestepped the actual question presented.
Viper turns back to Jason again, elbow on the backrest as she rests her chin in her palm and smiles wide and toothy. "Doesn't, does it? You didn't answer mine either, Wolfe. You gonna reciprocate if I, uh... satisfy your curiosity?" she asks, studying him for a bit before wiggling her eyebrows.
Jason blinks. He opens his mouth to respond, but stops and swallows, gaze dropping for a moment. "I wouldn't-... phrase it like that... ever. But-..." he mutters under his breath before giving a small shrug. He draws in a heavy breath, shifting a bit in his seat as a tinge of his annoyance shines through once more. "How about this? If you're not gonna tell me, you can get the fuck out of my house." He flashes a big, annoying
Viper lets out a puff of air, going limp and sliding down a little in her seat until her head is against the backrest. She starts to pick at a fraying bit of armor fibre on her gloves. "You drive a hard bargain, Wolfe. But hey, I appreciate the interest. My employment situation turned dicey after your jarhead buddies stole you-know-what and left me empty handed. Boss was friggin' pissed. Had to lay low, pursue... other options. Like
Professor Mind Control. But hey, something musta changed, 'cause whaddaya know, I'm off the shitlist, and the boss is all kinds of curious about your crazy little adventures." Her attention shifts back to Jason towards the end, studying him curiously, but she remains slumped in the couch.
Jason listens, inadvertantly giving a little roll of his eyes at the mention of 'Professor Mind Control'. When she gets to her point, he lets a small snort out. "So... Back with the Shadow Broker." he says, gaze drifting towards the coffee table briefly. "AKA, the asshole, and/or assholes, that sent an operative to ice a real good friend of mine and damn near put me and everyone I know in the ground right beside him." he
continues, blue eyes turning back to Viper. He doesn't say it, but the question should be obvious. 'Why should I tell them anything?'
Viper nods slightly, actually seeming to take a moment to pick her words for once. "...mhm. Also happens to be a very useful asshole be on the good side of. Maybe owe you one. And if all it takes is a little Q&A, show-and-tell, not a single bit of death-defying heroics? Pretty good deal."
Jason draws in a heavy breath, seeming to actually consider it for a moment, gaze once more falling to the coffee table. There was a time when getting even with the Shadow Broker for what they did to Justus occupied far more of his thoughts than he'd like to admit. A chance to stand tall when he looked at that plaque on the gym wall and say, 'I finished it'. But that was always a stretch. A pipedream. Some nobody ex-marine somehow
getting their hands on one of the most powerful underworld criminals in the galaxy? It was never gonna happen. And then Cerberus had Linda. And he had to come to terms with the fact that working alongside one of the Shadow Brokers' operatives was a necessary evil if he was going to bring her home safely. What would Justus have thought about that? A part of him likes to think that the turian would've wanted him to put old
grudges aside for something so important. But the truth is, it just doesn't matter what Justus would've wanted. The dead can't speak, and he has a family to think about. "I've got my own demands." he finally says, his tone perhaps giving away that he might be betraying his own morals regarding the situation. He looks back to the woman seated beside him. "If I tell you about this, whatever beef your organization had with me
and mine is over." He's got more than enough reasons to watch over his shoulder each and every day. Now is the time to start crossing some of those off. "I want your word that your boss isn't coming after us. Any of us."
Viper 's bright yellow eyes gleam in the dark, and she scoots back into an upright position. She makes a show of considering the demand for a moment before a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth as she leans a little closer. "I can swing that. Got yourself a deal, Wolfe."
Jason holds Viper's gaze for a moment, perhaps gauging her sincerity, before offering a small, if somewhat disatisfied, nod. "And I need something answered." His focus remains on the Shadow Broker operative as he continues, "See-... I can't help but wonder-..." he stammers, only briefly breaking eye contact with a tilt of his head that accompanys a small shrug, "...If Cerberus put the Collectors down for the count? Why is your
boss so interested in them?" He allows the rhetorical question to linger for a moment before laying out where his curiosity really lies: "Is it really over?"
Viper 's smile widens a little. "Million credit question, right there. I dunno, Wolfe. Honest truth. Guessin' answering that question might be why the boss has taken such an interest in you guys," she speculates, slowly and casually prying a small knife from the armor plating on her gauntlet and starting to play idly with it, practicing balancing it on an armored fingertip.
Jason pulls in a heavy breath, nodding in response. Not what he had hoped for, but not unexpected. Unlikely the Shadow Broker is out there laying their cards out for low level operatives to see. He can't help but wonder if Viper has ever even spoken to them directly. "Fair enough..." he says quietly. He takes a moment to activate the safety on his Phalanx with a flick of his carbon-fiber thumb and lets it rest beneath his hand on
his right thigh. Not quite ready to set it out of reach just yet. He settles back against the couch once more and lets out a heavy breath, trying to decide where to starts. "We'd been butting heads with those freaks for some time. Never really knew who or what they were. No clue about the Collectors connection." he begins. "Wasn't much on the extranet. Best we could make out, they were machine cultists scattered across the
galaxy. Didn't know much more than that, but we knew they were dangerous. So when we got word that one of their little weapons was sitting on Di Yu, we knew we couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands." His gaze drops and a snort escapes him, the smile that pulls at his lips is hollow and drowning in disappointment. Disappointment in himself for not noticing earlier. "Little did I know that I had Cerberus' hand up my ass.
And you know how-... uhh-... how most of that played out..." he says, his voice going a bit quiet near the end of his sentence, left hand absently reaching across himself to scratch at the small scars beneath his shirt that pepper his right shoulder.
Viper flips the knife into her hand, gaze going to Jason's shoulder. She's on the verge of speaking before she reconsiders, perhaps realizing that being glib isn't going to serve her interests right now. Instead she nods and simply chimes in with: "Sure do."
Jason fills the silence with a couple of nods before continuing. "...Yeah. Well, Cerberus swiped the artifact-..." and Linda, "...but we didn't leave empty handed. Rescued a bunch of kids from that freakshow compound of theirs. Tried to get the locals off planet when everything went to hell, too, but that-..." he trails off, leaving the locals' fate unspoken and offering little more than a shake of his head. "Most of the
kids were taken back to Council space. Figured they'd have the resources to take care of 'em. But one-... Li?" he says, gentle smile returning, "...She got a bit attached to us." He relents with a small shrug, once more looking to Viper as his smile fortifies, "...Guess that went both ways." he admits. "She's a good kid. Decided to stick around. And then, one night-..." And as quickly as it appeared, his smile evaporates,
Viper nods along, picking at her glove with the tip of her blade as she listens, suddedenly making it very obvious how the armor weave ended up frayed. "She," she prompts, making no effort to clarify how much she already knows, but her eyes fix on Jason again for a moment.
Jason nods along. "Small fry's mom." he clarifies. "Figured we had iced her folks with the rest of the cultists." he admits. It doesn't bring on a warm and fuzzy feeling, but the whole ordeal seems so far removed from the here and now at this point, "But she must've survived and found us... Somehow." He falls silent for a moment, that fact having been lost on him at some point. He does his best not to dwell on it, drawing in a
deep breath to try and push it out of his mind. "Wouldn't have had a bunch of psychotic Collector-worshipping machine cultists pegged as the sentimental type, but there she was. Even hired a crew to get her here and grab the kid. So, naturally, we gave chase. Wasn't until we caught up to her and the Collectors showed up that everything clicked." he continues, looking back to the woman beside him. "Barely had time to mount a