On the other side of the glass
The door slid open to reveal the form of Jon, followed a second later by the slim figure of Joan. He still had the appearance of someone who is fighting off the tendrils of sleep, rubbing his eyes and yawning once as he made his way into the room. But the fact that he'd only had about three hours sleep could account for this factor, he eyed Joan, you'd never had guessed she'd been up half the night, she looked as perfect as ever. He felt a sudden urge to kiss her run through him ... he couldn't wait for that night, she was very good at what she did ...
He glanced up seeing two men talking with the figure of Riley Finn, now on the other side of the glass. He made his way towards the small group, catching sight of the blonde vampire who had talked to him yesterday, she was lying on her side, facing away from him, she didn't stir as he walked past.
Only a few feet from the others he stopped, wondering what Finn's reaction would be to his presence after his actions last night. At least the man was standing now ... he must have been given his meds. He glanced at the other men, both young, one black and the other white, they were dressed in combat gear ... it looked liked they were just about to head out somewhere.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Had his friends not gone silent and their eyes distracted with the arrival of Joan and Jon, Riley wouldn't have noticed they had entered the room. He gave a rather uncomfortable smile at Joan for a moment, before his uneasiness quickly faded away. She always made him uncomfortable, her intense eyes gazing over him, making him worry that she was scanning his attire, one thread out of place and he'd get a complaint on his clothes in next report.
Her companion however was rather tired looking, poor guy must have been up on assignment all night, Riley himself was shaking off the early morning sleepiness.
"Morning Joan." He called out politely with a faint smile as she and her friend approached.
"Training go well last night Riley?" She asked, fully away there was no traning session he had taken part in, Riley glanced at Forrest for a moment before stroking his hand through his hair.
"Actually, there was an accident, but it's all fixed now, Commander Halliwell says we handled ourselves excellently, I feel kinda bad though, a Dorgoth demon knocked me out.." Graham laughed teasingly, nudging Riley as he finished speaking with his elbow, although Forrest was trying desperatly to hide the look of guilt in his face.
"Don't have animals like the Dorgoth's up in Iowa, totally took farm boy here by surprise, but I'm cool with it, he distracted the thing from going after me, so it's all cool, gave Forrest the chance to zap it." Graham grinned before throwing Forrest a quick glance and motioning towards the door.
"Hey, take care Riley, we gotta split, we're on recon." He seemed to groan slightly before grinning again and heading for the door. Riley watched for a moment before looking at Jon more curiously.
"You must be Jon Haloway, Halliwell informed me of your arrival, I'm your new room mate, be your team leader as well, Halliwell asked for me to show you around. Actually, that's his way of saying for us to get to know each other, so, I'm about to grab a bite to eat, care to join?" He asked with a cheerful expression, before then holding out his hand for Jon.
"Oh, I'm sure you know, but anyway, I'm Special Agent Riley Finn." He offered politely as he kept his hand out keenly for the boys own hand to take.
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: On the other side of the glass
Jon was a little surprised by Riley's reaction to him, it was like he didn't even remember the other night, he hadn't mentioned anything about Catherine, the school or them drugging him and taking him away.
'Actually, there was an accident, but it's all fixed now, Commander Halliwell says we handled ourselves excellently, I feel kinda bad though, a Dorgoth demon knocked me out..' Jon shook his head slightly wondering what Finn was talking about, there had been no demon ... then it suddenly hit him that the initiative probably didn't want Riley to remember. If they could give him drugs to make him obey Joan's commands then they probably had the power to mess up his memory as well. After twigging he played along with the others, nodding as Graham spoke.
'You must be Jon Haloway, Halliwell informed me of your arrival, I'm your new room mate, be your team leader as well, Halliwell asked for me to show you around. Actually, that's his way of saying for us to get to know each other, so, I'm about to grab a bite to eat, care to join?' Nope this man could not remember him, Jon smiled and took the proffered hand, his grip very firm.
'That’s right I'm Jon.' His smile broadened slightly. 'Sure I'm up for that.' He looked back at his companion. 'Joan would you do us the honour of joining us.?'
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: On the other side of the glass
With a slightly regrateful look upon her face, Joan shook her head and turned down the tempting offer...a very tempting offer for Joan, both Jon AND Riley....she'd have liked that.
"I'm on watch for the next few hours, see you at lunch." She replied almost distastefully at the idea of having to wait so long, but then leaned against the security desk with a faint smirk across her face.
"You two boys have a good time, come pick me up when you're off for lunch." Riley waved bye to Joan as he moved towards the door, glancing back at Jon and deciding to wait for him.
"Jon, what kind of breakfast did you want?" The Iowa soldier asked curiously, it'd help him know which area of the Center they'd have to grab a seat at, wouldn't want to sit with vegeterians and be eating eggs with a stack load of bacon..
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: On the other side of the glass
He looked regretfully back at Joan as she leaned on the side of the control desk watching them leave, looking at her slim figure as he went. He heard Riley speak and focused his attention on Finn again, wondering what he would do if he suddenly remembered what Jon had said to him the other night.
'Jon, what kind of breakfast did you want?' Jon glanced over and up at farm boy, there sure was a lot of him, he couldn't be over six foot three inches but he managed to take up much more room, perhaps it was because he had such broad shoulders and thick neck. Jon himself had muscles, but not to that extent.
'How about pancakes?' He asked hungrily, Joan was very good at giving him an appetite he decided. He glanced back at the blond haired woman, before the two disappeared outside in to the main corridor.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: On the other side of the glass"Sounds great!" He replied in a rather cheery tone and content smile as they made their way into the halls, glancing around for a moment before simply staring ahead.
"Halls are rather quiet today." He mumbled more to himself curiously, it was odd for the halls to be so quiet during this hour, normally agents where rushing into the center trying to grab their tables. Unknown to him Hallwiell had ordered for these halls and the way leading to the - what the center was called at this time of day - Breakfast hall remain deserted. Last thing Halliwell wanted was passer bys asking Riley about his time at Xavier's, and no one was permitted to talk to him about his time at the institute at the table that was already chosen for him.
"Where are you from? I'm from Iowa." Normally he would have added 'from a small farming community called Haxely', but even that detail was slightly hazy to him, the memory just out of reach yet not important enough for him to even notice it was missing.
"Have you chosen an assignment to take on while your here? I'm in charge of Watching over the Holding cells and their security, so all I know for free jobs are what's there. We have 1-5am shift, currenlty we're all sharing that, we need a feeder for breakfast and dinner, maybe a door watcher for 5pm-9pm.." He frowned as he thought, none of those where really what he'd call a great assignment, but they where all the tasks he had, and really...they where better the bathing the creatures and restraining them for testing..
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: On the other side of the glass'Where are you from? I'm from Iowa.' Jon glanced over at him, Finn really was a corn fed boy wasn't he. Jon could never have been happy growing up somewhere like that, he craved people, he liked to feel that there were others around him all the time. All that endless boundless space would have creeped him out, he'd have got the feeling that there were eyes watching him, that someone could easily creep up on you, that anyone could be watching your every movement.
He'd grown up in a penthouse suit at the top of a massive block of flats in central Washington, all five of them lived in flats. He'd never seen where Cat lived but she'd talked about it, he knew where she lived, the address and he knew enough of that area to know that it was a rough area, full of children who spent the days playing baseball in the streets and half Ferrell dogs that rummaged through the dumpsters. It wasn't the kind of place he could leave his Mazda and expect it to be there when he came back. Bekki on the other hand shared a third story flat with two other girls, she seemed to get along with them but she never really talked about them to him, nor did she invite him back to her's much. There always seemed to be someone at home around her's and he had to agree with Bekki that he preferred sleeping with her in a house that he knew people weren’t listening in the next room, it did kind of put him off.
The other two, Nina and Brad had lived with their mother until six months ago or so when the pair of them had moved out over a dispute about Nina and Brad's job. Their mother strongly disapproved of their chosen careers, Brad had become a bouncer at 'The Rose.' a strip club in downtown Washington, Nina also worked there four nights a week but as a lap dancer. So the pair who were on ridiculously high wages got a flat, slap bang in the middle of the red light district, five minutes walk from their place of work.
He upon the other hand had experienced all the joys of wealthy parents, a house in the country, expensive parties, nice food and to be honest he did share his money with the others. He was especially generous with Catherine who he guessed had a rather a hard time of it where she lived, before he even started liking her romantically. He'd always made it clear that if things weren’t going too well with Anne and Roger there was always a spare room for her around his house and she averaged staying around his once a week.
'Washington, central Washington.' He said looking across at Finn
'Have you chosen an assignment to take on while your here? I'm in charge of Watching over the Holding cells and their security, so all I know for free jobs are what's there. We have 1-5am shift, currently we're all sharing that, we need a feeder for breakfast and dinner, maybe a door watcher for 5pm-9pm..'
'I haven't been asked yet.' He said rubbing the fingers of one hand over his palm and looking at Riley. The guy had been a complete jerk yesterday but perhaps it had just been the drugs talking, he seemed alright today, he even seemed keen to make friends. 'I only got here a couple of days ago ... what shifts do you cover then.'
'Talk about her like that again, Rogue Agent 75329 is going to be on suspended duty for assaulting an Operative of the Initiative.'
Yes it was good that Riley didn't seem to remember last night, Jon might have been cocky when Riley was under restraints but he wasn't sure now the guy was sane that he could win a fight against him. He was bigger and looked stronger than Jon and he'd rather not find out either way.
He wondered how Catherine was, remembering her limp form in the arms of a vampire, a trickle of blood trickling down her neck and falling to the floor. Seeing the vampire leap over his head again and snarl at him before dissapearing out of the door with Cat. He wondered if he would ever see her again but then remembered something Joan had said yesterday afternoon at Xavier's school when they were retreving special agent Finn.
'Jon, we'll be back for Hostile 17 in due time, you can see your lady friend then.'
Did that mean he would get to see Cat again? He hoped it did, he missed her.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: On the other side of the glass"I cover what ever is left over." He responded with a slight shrug, stroking his hand through his hair in an effort to make sure it wasn't all out of place. He hadn't slept all night and last thing he wanted was Halliwell or the other commanders jumping on his back about anything else after that Dorgoth mess up.
"Mainly I'm on in the morning shifts and late after noon shifts, basiclly, if you can't find me and you need me for some reason, go to the Holding cells, 9 times out of 10 I'll be there." He offered with a half smile before
OOC - the nets freezing up on me, sorry Jen, I needa finish it when I can log back on!
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: On the other side of the glass
'OK cool.' Jon said shifting his postition slightly and looking at Riley, thinking that it was a pity the man wasn't doing the night shift, that way he wouldn't be disturbing Jon and Joan. He smiled slightly as he thought about the way she had touched him, held him only such a short time ago
'Whats it like in Iowa.' He asked, more to break the akward slience that was forming than from a wish to know about Riley's life. Jon if he was pressured could just about find the place on a map and he had a fair idea that it was just fields there. God what did anyone do to pass the time there without the beach, malls, social dinners, baseball games and the one hundred and one other past times he enjoyed.
He had a sudden image of Riley and his parents sitting down to read or talk in the evenings, the idea made him almost laugh out loud, how could anyone find that interesting. But then how could anyone live on a farm for eighteen years or how ever many he was there and not go completley crazy. What did they do for entertainment up there apart from take in the hay. He knew the size of the farms up there, it wasn't like you could pop around the corner to visit your girlfriend, she probably lived thirty or fourty miles away
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: On the other side of the glass
Riley thought for a moment, as if trying to dig up fading memories, but then with a faint smile appearing, he replied to the question with a slight longing in his voice.
"There's always something to do there, never standing around like we always seem to be doing here, and we have horses, I have one called Amy, but she's getting on 9 years now. We had a show horse, Sky, she was doing very well when I left, we got a lot of prize money at the town festival for her. And Troy was training as a show dog, we where doing really well. Mainly I just spent time with either chores or the family, weekends we'd go into town I think.." He trailed off for a moment at the hazy memory, but then got distracted with another thought that popped into his head.
I should write to them after breakfast, Halliwell said I should write to them, guess he's right, I don't thnk I've written in over a week or so." The sentance left an obvious hint of the tampering his memory had suffered at the hands of the high commanders. Everyone knew Riley had been at the school, and he hasn't had contant with his family for years.
He really did miss seeing them, he used to visit the first weekend of every month, he'd ride and groom Amy every day he was there. He'd do whatever chores his aging parents had left for later times, and spend a night in the town with them, while the other night he spent at home talking, on the last day he'd practically have to be dragged out of the house by Forrest and Graham who'd go and pick him up. It wasn't that he didn't want to return to the initiative, he just really wanted to spend more time with them.
When he left the farm he thought he was going for a few years to study, not join a top secret government agency and be torn from his family with restricted time to see them. He remembered once there was a mild heat wave, he was stacking bails of hay from the barn into the truck by hand. It was so hot he, naturally removed his shirt, a habit he had easily picked up from when he was just a kid. But his mother had a gathering of visitors from the town stop by, his father was demanding Riley put his shirt back on when three girls his age had started commenting on him with hushed whispers and giggles. Riley nearly died from the extra warmth his shirt provided, but honestly, he didn't see the fuss, he didn't care if they where teasing him...
It was odd, Riley was so lost in thoughts of his past, trying to think past the misty fog that seemed to deny him his normal talent of pretty good memory recall. With a soft groan he placed his right hand fingers genty against the side of his head, a numb buzzing sound filling his mind for a short moment before fading away.
"I haven't been to Washington before, I was supposed to go with my father....I can't remember why we cancelled the trip." He thought for a moment, he was supposed to go in the first christmas back from the Acadamy, but of course, they assumed he was dead by then so there was no way Riley could have gone, though the memory was lost to him at this point in time.
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: On the other side of the glass
He tried ... and failed to see what could be interesting in grooming horses and training dogs. He just couldn't fathom why anyone would want to waste their life away on a farm, but then Riley was here so he must have wanted to leave the farm.
'So why did you leave?' He asked curiously, he seemed to have lots of fond memories by the distant look in his eyes but why leave a place if you like it that much ... why didn't he just stay and take over the farm from his parents on their deaths?
Jon himself didn't have such issues, his father was wealthy enough for Jon never to have to work if he didn't want to and until now he'd never found a job which he'd wanted to do. But the idea of vampire fighting was one that appealed to him, he wanted to do something with an element of danger ... not a nine till five desk job.
'Washington's OK.' He said non committedly, parts of it were nice but other parts could be down right dangerous, but as long as you knew what you were doing you were safe. He remembered seeing Cat a couple hours after she'd been attacked down a back ally, the fear in someone's eyes wasn't something you forget quickly. He felt quite sorry for her, Catherine never seemed to have much luck, he knew for a fact that she was incredibly jealous of her four friends who all had parents of some kind. You only had to glance at her when she thought you weren't looking to see the look in her eyes. He was still wondering why she hadn't just run away from Anne and Roger, he wasn't sure if it was because she was afraid she'd have no where to go, or the fear of loosing the closest things she had to parents. He wasn't a hundred percent that even Cat knew the answer to that question.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
"I was offered a place at Mass.Acadamy, I left because the school systems here are better." He left because he wanted to learn, he left because his mother insisted everything will be fine....he left for a life he never got to have. The Initiative made sure of that, the Initiative took away his freedom, they they took away so much.. He frowned for a moment, but then just as quickly as those thoughts arrived they where washed away by the lingering drugs...at least he could still write to his parents, and visit them on the odd occasion.
"How did you get a position in the Initiative?" The special agent asked curiously as he looked over at Jon, then looked ahead again as they walked.
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies
