01/13 Instance: British Intelligence.

[littlebamf]

Day after Regrouping or so, cheers


Pete leaned back against the tree on the jogging path. He'd found a good place to lay low outside of class, which helped him avoid any sort of ... awkward confrontations.

He felt in his coat for his lighter, then lit up his cigarette.

Pulling her hair back, Lizzie zipped up her hooded top and set off down the jogging path. She needed fresh air and to get out of the DR for a while...

Though annoyingly her ipod had decided to go and die, so it was a run without any music. Lame.

He heard someone coming up the path and turned to look. Oh, good. Liz. Nothing to worry about there. He took another drag.

"Mornin'"

She slowed a little. "Morning..." she came to a stop, stretching a little, looking at him. "Haven't seen you around much..."

"Yeah, well... figured I could concentrate more on school if I kept away from any sort of confrontations."

"Not that I meant you!" he corrected quickly. "Just, seems like it'd be easier to avoid certain people at the moment."

"Ah..." clicking her back, she grimaced a little. This was weird. Him just being there. "Seem's you managed to do that pretty well so far."

He took another drag, feeling the smoke fill his lungs for a moment. "Well, it sort of was my job for awhile."

"Oh, speaking of, seems they're putting me on infiltration team. Sounds fun."

"Sounds like you'd suit it perfectly with your experience," Lizzie smirked a little. "I'm running combat right now. Just like being back in the bloody army."

Taking a seat on the grass, she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We've been training almost non stop."

"I've heard." He looked up at the sky. So fuckin' bright. "Also heard you've been having problems."

He tossed the cigarette to the ground and crushed it out. "So not exactly the army, right?"

She looked up sharply at that. "I thought you were avoiding everyone, so what do you know about it? Have you been spying on me? And anyway, I'm not having problems. As such..."

"There's a big difference between spying and paying attention, Liz." He felt for another cigarette. Shit. Out. "So no, I haven't been spying on you."

"I imagine it'll be the same in infiltration though, just a bunch of amateurs pretending that having mutant powers makes espionage easy."

He shook his head. "Just hope no one gets themselves killed."

"We're all hoping that..." Lizzie put her chin on her knees. "And, sorry to accuse you of that but...See it from my point of view. It's just a tough time right now."

Noticing him grope for another cigarette, she smiled wryly. "I'm surprised you don't have another pack in that coat."

"Could hide an elephant..."

He grinned. "Elephant? Nah. Kalashnikov, yes. And I thought I did have another..."

Thinking about what he just said... "Yeah, I understand. I did some pretty unforgivable things, yet here I am with a second chance."

He shrugged. "Who knew?"

"We all did some pretty terrible things there...We just have to make sure we don't do it again." Patting the ground next to her in invitation for him to sit, she watched him carefully, still not sure if she trusted him.

"What have you been up to? I've just been in classes, training really...Well, been out once or twice."]

He pulled out his lighter before sitting, occupying his hands with it, flicking it on and off.

"Classes, really. Trying to avoid any sort of confrontations. I'm sure plenty of people know what I did, and I doubt most would be so quick to forgive."

"...especially with all the disappearances lately."

Lizzie fell silent at that, staring at the ground. "Perfectly understandable..."

He leaned back. "Almost seems like this place is cursed or something. That is, if you believed in that shit."

"Sometimes I do. It would explain a lot..."

He looked sideways at her. "What, like magic and voodoo and shit? Nah, the world's fucked up enough as it is. No need to add all that nonsense."

"Handy explaination though, eh? Oh, don't listen to me. I'm just tired and sulky. I haven't been sleeping...It sounds stupid, but I'm not used to being in an empty room at night."

He nodded. "I know what you mean. Well, sort of. I'm just not used to not being watched. The slightest noise and I'm up for the next few hours."

"Makes for good study time though."

"I do enough study though. I do too much, really. I just hate people thinking I'm a dumb blonde..." Yet another useless personal fact he didn't need to know. What the fuck was with her?

He looked over pretty quickly at that. "And who the fuck thinks that?" So maybe he let a little anger get into his voice... it'd been a long day.

"I didn't say anyone here did! It's just something I always get and really, I'm not that bright. I'm good at hands on stuff, not writing stuff!" why the heck was she shouting? And why did her eyes feel damp? She wasn't going to cry, sod it!

He caught her eyes, pretty sure she was telling the truth. "Good. If anyone here tries to give you shit, I'll take care of it."

Just like he promised with Tom...God she missed Warren. She appreciated Pete's offer but it wasn't the same...She trusted Warren wholly for one. Bunching up her sleeve, she dabbed the corner of her eyes. "Thanks..."

He leaned back, trying to calm down. His hands felt like they would burst into flames at any moment. "As for being good at school stuff, who is? All that writing stuff is just shit anyway. Get it out of the way early and you won't have to worry about it again."

"True...Though I'd like to get a fairly decent mark if I can, show I got something out of it that I can use in the real world. Not sure combat training fits in real life, unless I join the army..."

"Well, there's always Blackwater, plenty of intelligence agencies too, other mercenary groups, private bodyguards..."

"But I see your point. Still a bunch of shit though."

Nodding in agreement, she stared at the undergrowth across the way as a rabbit popped it's head out, sniffing the air. "Though, that'd be better if I was a lone act. I'm not, really, I'll have Warren back soon and when we finish here, we want a normal life, you know? Well. As normal as possible...I have money, which will help."

"A normal life?" he tried not to laugh. "Well, best of luck with that. Couldn't happen to a better couple."

"Yeah, very funny..." narrowing her eyes at him she pulled a bit of a face. "Can you blame us?"

He sighed. "Nah, not really. But you know you can't just get out of this life. Not this easily."

"I know..." she thought about her assesments back in London over the recent holidays fleetingly. "Trying won't hurt though."

He looked over. "Just be careful, Liz."

Returning his look, she chanced a smile. "I will. Always careful, me."

"Not always careful enough."

"Yeah, okay, maybe I'm not," she bristled a little at his correction, slightly annoyed he knew her that well, and shivered a little, getting cold just sat there, wrapping her arms around herself.

He looked over and saw her shivering. He put an arm around her shoulder, letting his hand warm her arm. "You'll have to watch out for Warren, too."

"I do try to...Bit hard right now though," her lip wobbled a bit and she dropped her head on his shoulder, glad of the comfort despite the fact it could have come from a better source...

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." He sat there in silence with her, not sure what else to say.

A few tears slipped out silently and she shifted a bit closer, hoping he'd ignore them. "Thank you..."

"Er, yeah." He had no idea what to say at this point. Maybe it he just stayed quiet she'd get over it? Maybe fall asleep and he could slip away?

At least she wasn't drunk this time...

"No, really, you don't have to put up with this," she fidgeted to get more comfortable, warmer now he had his arm around her. "It's kind of nice being out here, quiet."

"One of the perks," he agreed. He also noticed her get closer. Definitely not drunk this time. Shit.

"Mmm." Though...He did kind of wiff of cigarette smoke, which wasn't brilliant, but Christ she needed a hug...

Without really thinking, he turned his head slightly and kissed her forehead. "It'll turn out okay, Liz." Yeah, right.

[JSherlock]

Awww. They make the weirdest friends.

[Slarti]

I still don’t trust the bastard.

[idsunki]

Yeah, me neither.

[littlebamf]

Nor me...