~~~ Hackerspace ~~~
On the way back to the hackerspace, Emma didn't say a word. She caused a scene, fought with Sitara, and stormed out. She wasn't exactly looking forward to being back. It was like she was 12 again and threatened to run away from home, but would just be back before dinner time. Emma didn't say a word when they walked in. Emma didn't even look at Sitara and she was sure Sitara didn't even look at her.
Despite everything, Sitara was in a great mood. Hard to be upset when you know you have the enemy cornered. The rest of the plan was heavily reliant on time. She couldn't waste it scolding Emma.
"We routed two locations where there's heavy data traffic going to and from Fleishhacker. Josh is already working on hacking into the first one, but we can't get an access point at the other one. Mind heading over there and taking care of it?" Sitara asked Marcus and Wrench.
"Like go in and reboot the system?" Marcus asked.
"That's an option," Sitara said, "You could completely erase it if you want. There's nothing there that's useful for us. We have everything. We just don't want anyone else to have it either."
Wrench groaned and slouched in his seat, "Uuughhhhhh can't we just blow it up?" Sitara smirked and looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. Wrench gasped and displayed exclamation points on his mask, "You serious?"
Sitara chuckled, "Your time to shine. We doin it-"
"Wrench, style, baby!" Wrench cheered as he stood up, "I've been waiting all month for this!"
Marcus laughed, "What about the other place?"
"We're going to take care of it... Sitara style," Sitara said.
"And that would be?" Marcus asked with a grin.
Sitara took in a death breath, "Steal the intel, send an anonymous tip to the feds, putting out a warrant to Cyb0rg's arrest. Aaaand watch Blume take a major hit considering they're protecting that douchebag," She said all in one breath.
"Remind me never to mess with you," Ray chuckled and Sitara smirked.
"Be careful, though. I imagine once the first base gets flushed out, there might be increased security at the other," Sitara said, "But you boys can handle that."
"Wait... these coordinates are at that place in Oakland. That condemned office building. We've been there before," Marcus said pointing at the laptop screen.
"Yeah, and we found nothing," Ray said glancing at Wrench. He also remembered on that same day that Wrench was busy sulking over Emma. Perhaps that was the reason they didn't find anything suspicious. He knew he was too distracted, "That guy we beat info out of. What was his name? Carl? Anyway, I remember he mentioned that Cyb0rg moved bases a lot. But there's evidence that there's been activity at all three at once. So either he was full of shit, or Cyb0rg did a good job hiding it."
"Cyb0rg knows how we operate. He knows what to hide from us, and how. And I admit, it was a solid run, but he couldn't outrun us for too long," Sitara said confidently. She was loving this power trip.
"Well, whatever kind of lock he has on it, we'll get through. Once and for all," Marcus said.
"To my garage! I have just the things lined up," Wrench said eagerly. He really has been waiting a long time for this.
Emma was away from them all, sitting on the couch. She was hugging her knees. Frustrated and scared, but eager. Their plan sounded good. They knew what they were doing. Was this going to be Owen's final day ruining her life? What would she do after? No, Emma told herself. She couldn't think that far ahead. Owen was still dangerous at the moment, she couldn't forget that. She stood up, "Wait!" Wrench and Marcus stopped by the stairs, "Be careful about... him," She said, referring Sam.
"Who?" Sitara asked.
Emma, Marcus, and Wrench shared looks between each other then back to Sitara, "Uhhh, we'll let you talk," Marcus said. Emma pleaded with her eyes for him to stay. He couldn't leave her to explain the Sam situation by herself. Sure, he had nothing to do with it, but she needed the backup.
"What's going on?" Ray asked.
Emma let out a long sigh. She just wanted to get this over with, "Sam got bailed out of jail," She finally said, admitting how good it felt to finally talk about Sam.
Sitara furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"
"Well, he was in jail... and now he's... not," Emma said.
"No, I got that, smartass," Sitara said flatly, "How do you know?"
Emma sighed. She was in too deep, she may as well spit it all out, "I've been visiting Sam in jail. I thought I'd be able to get him to trust me and he'll dish info about Owen."
"What?! So who bailed him out?" Sitara asked.
"I don't know. I know this looks bad, and it's dangerous and all that, but I had to try to talk to him!" Emma defended.
"And you kept this a secret, becauuuuse...?" Ray asked.
"Remember the first time I went? He knew I had you guys there with me. Either he saw the earpiece, or just knew I was nervous... I don't know, but he knew," Emma said.
"You could have at least just had one of us stand outside for you," Ray said.
"I just wanted to do it my own way," Emma said starting to get annoyed.
"You didn't even know?" Ray asked Wrench.
"No... but Marcus did," Wrench said eyeing him.
Marcus raised his hands, but Emma interrupted, "He found out on accident, I swear! I made him promise not to tell anyone!"
"She made progress though! The Fleishhacker tip was from Sam!" Marcus said feeling guilty and defensive. It really did look bad on his part. Dedsec wasn't supposed to keep secrets from each other and he knew that. Now it was going to be an awkward mission with Wrench.
Sitara shook her head, "Then Fleishhacker was a trap... Do you realize how much worse that could have been?"
"I know!" Emma snapped, "And... that's why I was so mad about your "improvising.". It was because I was feeling guilty. If anything bad happened, it would have been my fault. So i'm sorry for getting mad... and lying or not saying anything. But I couldn't just sit in my lab and wait around while you guys did everything!" Emma tried to hold back tears. She wasn't sure why she was getting emotional.
"You've made a shitton of weapons for us," Wrench said.
"It's not enough," Emma muttered.
"And what will be enough? Huh?" Sitara asked, "Do you want him to kill you?"
Emma looked down, "He won't hurt me..."
"Oh, yeah, did Sam tell you that?" Sitara asked. She was trying to keep calm, but she was speaking quickly, with a condescending tone. Sitara couldn't believe how careless and stupid Emma was being. Sitara didn't build Dedsec to what it was by being dumb.
"He did," Emma answered.
"And you believe him?" Sitara asked.
Emma nodded, "I do. He-"
Sitara interrupted, "Emma, he's a traitor! He's on Owen's side. He tried to kill you and Wrench for fuck's sake!"
"He's just a pawn!" Emma said, "He doesn't know what he's doing. I"m tired of being scared, okay? You don't understand how useless I feel!"
"Will you two stop fighting?!" Wrench yelled quickly, stepping closer to the two.
"You're being careless!" Sitara added in last minute.
"Listen," Wrench said gesturing more to Sitara, but he stopped, "Wow, it's kind of weird being the mediator," He said.
"Get to the point!" Sitara and Emma both said.
Wrench was taken aback, but brushed it off, "Alright, alright. Look, I'm tired of all this going back and forth with you two. Our only enemy right now is Cyb0rg, right? We got leads. We can only take whatever Sam and Scarlett say with a grain of salt, but-"
"Scarlett?" Emma and Sitara both asked.
Wrench didn't respond, not realizing he said her name. He looked between the two but his eyes settled on Emma, "What?" He asked pretended he didn't hear her.
"You've been talking to Scarlett?" Emma asked softly.
Wrench cleared his throat, "See what I do is exist... and then suddenly Scarlett just shows up and starts talking in my direction-"
Ray decided to spare him by interrupting, "That doesn't matter. So someone went rogue for the sake of information, who cares? It wouldn't be the first time, and the Fleishhacker tip worked out in our favor."
"No, we don't do things alone. We have to be honest with each other!" Sitara said. Marcus invited Ray in the group without consulting anyone. Although, Sitara invited Emma into the Hackerspace at first without asking anyone, Emma was still an already established ally, "Did she at least say anything useful?"
"She claims that she's using Cyb0rg, and she's been trying to help us take him down the whole time. Like I said, take it with a grain of salt," Wrench said.
"Wait, really?" Emma asked sharply. She tried to hold it together, but she couldn't, "You get mad about Sam, yet you can have secret conversations with Scarlett?" She asked accusingly.
"It's different," Wrench said.
"How is it different?" Emma asked.
"Because I didn't ask to talk to her. You willingly endangered yourself to talk to Sam," Wrench replied, raising his voice a little.
"I never dated Scarlett!" Emma said.
"Neither did I!" Wrench defended.
"You tried!" Emma said.
"Is that what you're mad about!?" Wrench asked.
"You're so stupid!" Emma was fed up, she resorted to name calling. Childish, but, eh, she knew.
Ray walked in between them holding his head, "Okay new rule: No couples in Dedsec?" Ray suggested, "Why did you bring up Sam now again?"
Emma shook her head and sighed, "My point from the beginning was that Sam was out there and I just wanted you guys to know so you can be careful. I don't know who bailed him out, or why, but he's probably dangerous."
"So everything's out of the bag, right?" Marcus asked awkwardly.
"What. Do you have something to tell us, too?" Sitara asked.
"No, no," Marcus answered quietly.
"Didn't you have a plan for Scarlett?" Ray asked Sitara.
"Well it doesn't matter now that she's all buddy-buddy with Wrench," Sitara said.
"Well the clock is still ticking. Let's get the job done and become friends again later?" Ray asked.
"I'm sorry, everyone," Emma mumbled shaking her head
"I am, too. You're right. The Fleishhacker tip was useful. Thanks, Emma. I just..." Sitara paused and looked down at her feet, grinding her shoe against the ground beneath her. Emma never saw her like this before. She seemed vulnerable. "I can't let what happened to Horatio can happen again... And I'm not ready to lose another one of us," Sitara said softly then realized Emma probably didn't know who Horatio was, "Oh, Horatio was-"
"Marcus filled me in," Emma interrupted, "I'm sorry, Sitara. Really. I wasn't thinking about that at all..." Emma said. Wrench's interest peaked. He turned his attention to Marcus. When did he tell her about Horatio? He wondered. The same time Marcus knew about Sam? He wasn't liking all these secret moments they must have had, but he didn't say anything.
Marcus noticed Wrench looking at him, but pretended to be attentive to Emma and Sitara's conversation, "Well, let's just be glad it didn't get to that point," He said.
"And look how close we are! The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can kick back and relax with a couple of cold ones," Ray said.
"Just meet me at my garage. I'll be ready to go," Wrench said to Marcus and walked out. He seemed down and Marcus had a feeling he knew why. He glanced at Emma who just lightly shrugged at him.
~~~ Oakland ~~~
Wrench and Marcus gathered Wrench's supplies and immediately headed to Oakland. Marcus would watch the perimeter to keep any guards that would show up at bay. Meanwhile, Wrench took his explosives to infiltrate and find the main data frame.
Wrench carefully walked down a hallway, seeing two doors further down. One had faint blue lights coming from it. That had to be it, he thought. He stopped by the door frame to peek inside. It was a dark room, but the computer monitors on the other end were emitting a blue light. There were two men standing near the large computer desk. Both were holding assault rifles. Wrench laughed in his head guessing that neither of them knew how to properly use them. How often would they need to shoot assault rifles, anyway? The only people who would try to infiltrate this base would be cops and now Dedsec. And everyone knows Dedsec likes to work through the data streams. Although in this case, it was the shadows, even if Wrench preferred a more direct approach.
Wrench crouched down so he could move closer to the two, using a desk as cover. From there, he turned the corner to move to another desk to hide behind. This time, only a few feet away from the guards. Good thing it was dark enough to stay hidden, he thought. He pulled out his phone to jam the assault rifles, easily succeeding. Once that was done, he pulled the Capsule Gun from his belt. He took a second to look at it. Emma worked so hard to make these and this was the first real time he was able to use it on a mission. Marcus usually had all the fun when it came to engaging an enemy. And lately, there wasn't much to do. Aside from the Cyb0rg hunt.
"What if the feds bust in?" One of the guards asked.
"I don't know about you, but I'm surrendering. Make up some story about how he blackmailed me. I'm not doing jail time for that psycho son of a bitch," The other responded.
"You ever even seen him?" One asked.
The other one let out a quick laugh, "Nah. All I get are messengers."
Interesting, Wrench thought. Cyb0rg hires people to do everything for him, while he sits in some fancy stolen home, probably. That would be his mistake. Dedsec worked as a group, for themselves, for the good of the people. There was never a question of loyalty. These two men would never be allowed in Dedsec. Wrench got bored of their bantering. He clicked the Capsule Gun to be ready to fire. This was it.
Wrench quickly stood up from behind the desk and shot an ice dart at the furthest one away, square in the face. The impact threw the guard's head back enough for him to take a step back. He dropped the gun as he raised his hands to cover his eyes that were layered with ice. He was shouting in pain, "My eyes! What the fuck! I can't see!" He panicked.
The other guard whipped his body around and aimed his gun, Wrench being at the end. He stood there nonchalantly, with his hands up, "I didn't know how else to break the ice," Wrench said, smiling icons displaying on his mask.
The guard pulled the trigger of his gun, only for it to click, "The fuck!" He yelled as he threw it to the ground and tried to grab the other gun. Before he could even bring it back up, Wrench took this opportunity to run toward him and hit him in the back of the knee, causing him to flinch. Wrench then pulled out the Thunderball to hit him square in the face, knocking him out immediately. One down, he thought.
"Help! Help me!" The other guard was shouting, flailing his arms around. Wrench was annoyed, displaying two lines on his mask. He picked up one of the assault rifles off the ground and bumped the end of the gun into the side of his head, knocking him out, as well.
Ahhhh, quiet, Wrench thought. He threw the gun back onto the ground and pulled his phone out. He scanned the area, making sure no one was around, "You know, for a major base, there weren't that many people protecting it," Wrench said over the comm channel.
"They're probably too busy dodging the feds," Marcus chuckled.
"No one's here to see my work," Wrench feigned offense. It was truly a shame Wrench couldn't share an explosive moment with someone, quite literally... Even if it was the enemy. He pulled one of the unconscious bodies outside of the room and into the hallway, "No one conscious, anyway."
"Man, plant the charges, get back out here, then detonate them!" Marcus said while Wrench pulled out the other guard.
Wrench hummed, "Not the way I work, Marky Mark!" He pulled out two explosives to set around the main computer.
Marcus groaned, "Not that again."
"Hey. If no one's around to see it, does it really blow up?" Wrench asked.
"Getting philosophical at a time like this?" Marcus asked.
"Philosophy and destruction go hand in hand," Wrench explained. He sounded serious. He probably was, Marcus thought. Wrench followed the short power lines and put explosives at two other ends, making sure not to have any loose ends.
"What kind of philosophy books are you reading?" Marcus asked incredulously.
Wrench finished setting all the charges he thought were necessary, "Published philosophy books are one of the biggest scams. It's some guy with a made up degree jerking himself off with his own bullshit," Wrench said. He pulled out his phone to get ready to detonate the two explosives on the sides. He would save the the main one for last, "and no one understands what the fuck he's saying, so they think he's smart."
Marcus chuckled and put on the best edgy hipster voice he could muster, "What does it mean to live a good life? Why do we dream?"
Wrench joined him, "If the universe is finite, what would beyond the edge of the universe be like?"
"I'd say we could write our own book at this rate," Marcus said.
"I feel scummy just pretending," Wrench said and shivered in disgust, "And I know just the thing to fix it," Wrench hit a button his phone as he walked out of the room and into the hall. All Marcus could hear was the sound of an explosion happening, followed by a second one.
"Uhhhh, Wrench?" Marcus asked.
Wrench let out a long sigh, smiling, "Much better."
Marcus darted his eyes a bit. That was a suggestive sigh, he thought. Should he bring it up? He wouldn't even know what to ask. Better yet, maybe he should just leave it alone.
After a few minutes, Wrench met back up with Marcus outside, "Took your sweet time," Marcus said.
"I wanted to enjoy this. Who knows when the next time will be," Wrench said.
"Ready to head back? I'm sure Emma's dying to see us back in one piece," Marcus said and started to walk off.
Wrench narrowed his eyes, displaying two lines on his mask. He wanted to ask Marcus so many things. Why did he kept the Sam secret from him? When did he have the time to tell her about Horatio? What conversation led to that conversation? Why did he pull her aside to speak to her in private earlier? Marcus was his best friend, he was just being paranoid. Yeah, that was it. But then why would Marcus suddenly leave situations when Emma came around? "Hey, Marcus?" Wrench spat out without knowing what he was going to follow up with next.
Thankfully, before Wrench could say anything else, a much larger explosion went off, startling Wrench and Marcus. The looked over at the building to see it starting to shed debris and started crumbling within itself. Wrench dropped his shoulders and sighed, "Seriously?" He whined and gestured his hand out at the building, "I went through all that trouble moving the bodies out of the way."
Marcus looked between it and Wrench, "You didn't do that?"
"No, but now I wish I did," Wrench answered, still whining. He was just as confused at Marcus, "Must have triggered a failsafe when the servers shut down."
"Well, let's get out of here before cops show up," Marcus said walking away, Wrench following suit, "Oh, what were you going to say?"
Wrench thought about it. Was it really the right time? Wrench shook his head, "Eh, it can wait."
~~~ Hackerspace ~~~
Emma stayed in the Hackerspace. Sitara, Ray, and Josh were going through their logs. She went over to lay down and as soon as her back hit the couch, her emotions got the best of her. Probably because she finally felt safe enough to let herself feel vulnerable. Sam was out there. She saw Owen. Dedsec was mad at her. Wrench and Marcus are in a potentially dangerous situation... But she was within the safe walls of the Hackerspace. She was staring up at the ceiling, unable to control her tears.
"I'm glad you came back," she heard Josh say.
Emma looked up to see him standing up around the corner, "Hi, I'm sorry, I know my crying is making you uncomfortable, but I just can't help it right now," She said and put her head back down, "You thought I wasn't going to come back?"
"You seemed very angry. Why are you sad?" Josh asked.
"Everything. It's not just because I'm sad, it's...I don't really want to talk about it," Emma decided.
Josh stayed silent for a moment, "Okay. Did you want to see what we found?"
Emma wanted to be left alone. She wanted to say no, but she'd have plenty of time to sulk later. She sat up and started to wipe her tears away, "Yeah."
Emma was perched on a chair slightly behind Josh's computer. She was hugging her knees to her chest, studying the screen. Sometimes she wasn't sure if she just zoned out or completely fell asleep for a couple of seconds. What was she doing here again? She didn't really have much to do or look at. A bunch of data and words she didn't understand. Josh knew that. Maybe he wanted her to feel included.
Emma glanced at the screen and a name stood out to her. She did a double-take. JB Markowicz. It took her a second to realize why it sounded so familiar, but then she couldn't forget, "JB?" Emma asked quietly.
"Hm?" Ray asked lazily. He spun his chair around to face her.
"JB Markowicz. Who's that?" Emma asked. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Names aren't all unique.
"Oh, some hacker punk. Why do you ask?" Ray asked. This peaked his interest.
Emma stared at the screen, "No reason."
Ray was suspicious. He knew he had to tread lightly. After all, she was talking about JB Markowicz AKA Defalt. This could either lead somewhere great or somewhere bad. Knowing his luck, it'll probably be something bad, "That didn't sound like 'no reason'," Ray said.
"Just a name of someone I knew. Probably a different guy," Emma reasoned with herself. She never told Owen about her JB. Why would his name be in his logs?
"Does the DJ named 'Defalt' mean anything to you?" Ray asked.
Emma made an effort to think about it, "Can't say it does."
"Well, It's a long story, but this guy was trying to kill me and my friends," Ray said a little more comfortable around the subject. It was a common name, right? He tried to tell himself.
"That doesn't sound like my JB," Emma said.
"Who's your JB?" Ray asked.
Emma suddenly felt really uncomfortable. JB Markowicz wasn't a name she thought of in a while. In a way she felt guilty for it. But he left her many many years ago. Surely she had to move on, "Just some guy I knew," She repeated. But she couldn't let it go, "Back in New York."
"Oh, you're not from California?" Ray asked. New York. Where the blackout happened. He had to tread this conversation lightly, or try to change the subject.
Emma shook her head, "Lived there until I graduated high school. Then I moved here for college," Emma said.
"Wait, you're telling me you've been here for 7 or 8 years, and you hardly know anything about San Francisco? Hell, I've only been here for like a year!" Ray said.
Emma chuckled, "I got my Master's Degree when I was 22. I was pretty busy. Then I met Owen. You know the rest," Emma said.
"And it all makes sense," Ray said.
"Well, you're still young! San Francisco is a hell of a lot better than New York!" Sitara piped in from across the room.
"Have you ever even been to New York?" Emma asked.
"It's just a cold, flat, cramped, LA. Bad drivers included," Sitara said casually.
"Maybe the city is a little cramped, but the rest of the state is nice!" Emma defended.
"Yeah well if it's so nice, then why aren't you back there?" Sitara asked walking up from the other side of the room.
Emma shrugged, "New York is nice, but so is San Francisco, and I got all you dorks here," And Wrench, she thought, "But back home, JB was all I had."
"Aww. Boyfriend?" Sitara asked.
"Hah!" Emma laughed. She wished. "Nah. JB and I both lost family during the blackout in 2003," Emma began. Ray and Sitara both stiffened, "We were kind of forced to attend this youth group to talk about it. We both thought they were dumb and just became friends because of it. He was a pretty bad influence on me. Got into a lot of trouble together," Emma's face fell, "And then a few years later, he just disappeared."
Ray couldn't look at her. Defalt a.k.a JB Markowicz's brother was one of the casualties of the Northeast Blackout of 2003. And another one was related to Emma. He knew all their names. They haunt him every day of his life. But he knew one of them wasn't named Myers. Did Emma not know Ray was the one who caused it? But it was on the news... Defalt made sure of that. Sitara shot a look at Ray, but he wasn't looking at anyone or anything in particular. Neither of them knew how to proceed, but Sitara knew they couldn't tell her. Not yet, at least. Sitara cleared her throat, "I hope you see him again one day," Sitara said, trying to act normal.
Ray glanced at Sitara. That's right, she probably didn't know about Defalt. He harassed him and Aiden 3 years ago. A year later, Defalt showed up again and Ray killed him once and for all. That was all in Chicago. Sitara was busy making Dedsec what it is today in San Francisco. But she heard about Aiden.
"Thanks, me too. I wonder what he's up to," Emma smiled wide. She looked hopeful. Talking about him made her happy. Ray couldn't destroy that. But he already did. The guilt would never end.
As if on queue, the door to the hackerspace opened up revealing Marcus and Wrench, "Guys! Guys!" Marcus cheered with enthusiasm. Ray has never been so thankful to hear their loud voices.
"Mission accomplished?" Sitara asked.
They were running down the stairs, Wrench jumping over the railing at the end, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for," Wrench said with dramatic enthusiasm.
"Do we need a drumroll?" Sitara asked playfully.
"No, but bust out the champagne, and turn on to the news!" Marcus said and ran over to the couch. They all huddled around the couch as Sitara turned the TV on.
"I swear to god if this Cyber Driver 2 or something," Ray muttered.
"Don't pretend you wouldn't be excited about that!" Wrench snapped with angry eyes on his mask, "But no, even better!"
The news showed the result of Wrench and Marcus's mission involving blowing up the last location. There was debris behind the reporter speaking, with cops and firemen in the background. The headline read: Dedsec Hacker Exposed.
"Did you guys do that?" Sitara asked. Wrench and Marcus answered her, but all Emma could hear is what the news reporter was saying.
"...anonymous tip providing the locations of an Ex-Dedsec hacker Owen MacDermott. San Francisco police has issued a warrant out for his arrest. Information suggesting that Blume was working with the criminal is also under investigation. If anyone sees him, stay away and call the police. He is considered armed and dangerous..."
Emma's jaw dropped.
He's been exposed?
Is this real?
No, it's a dream.
Owen's... Owen.
He wouldn't just be caught like that, she thought. She was sure. But the news is saying otherwise. She didn't even hear the other Dedsec members cheering around her.
"Emma!" Wrench said snapping her out of her thoughts, "We did it!" He tried to reassure her. She still couldn't believe it.
"We... did... it," Emma repeated quietly. She almost didn't even hear herself. She turned to Wrench who was smiling on his mask. At that moment, she wasn't angry with him. She wasn't angry with anyone. And with her look of relief, he was no longer angry with her. Emma reached up and wrapped her arms around him, Wrench returned the hug, holding her tightly. They had plenty of time to talk later, but they wanted to enjoy this major victory. They let go of their hug, but still looked at each other.
"Not to be a Negative Nancy or anything, but we didn't win yet," Ray warned, "We took over his ship and kicked him overboard, but he's still out in the sea somewhere."
"And what is a pirate without his ship or crew?" Marcus asked, going along with the analogy.
Ray titled his head slightly, "That's a good point, but he's bound to have a few extra loyalists. He could still have miscellaneous safe houses," Marcus said.
"Who could he possibly have?" Sitara mused, "Sam? Scarlett? She's a good hacker, but on her own? Pfft. She's not a threat anymore."
"Never trust the crazy ones," Wrench said in a low voice.
"I'm gonna agree with that," Ray said.
"Okay, but by herself?" Sitara asked.
"Never. Trust. The crazy ones," Wrench repeated, emphasizing his words while displaying circles on his mask.
Sitara laughed, "I'm not afraid of her. She latches herself onto the strongest link until she's in a position of power. But when there's no one else, she's just a regular script kiddie."
"Daaaaamn, are you slut shaming?" Marcus chuckled.
"Never!" Sitara said coyly.
"I'd say she's better than a script kiddie," Wrench said. Emma shot him a look, "Not... by much, though..." He added.
"Well, I'm counting this as a win!" Sitara said.
"You know what, me too!" Marcus said.
Sitara turned to Emma, "What about you?"
Emma wasn't sure how to answer it. It felt surreal. Owen didn't have the power he had before. No, he surely had back ups. Was it really this easy? Was Dedsec really that good? "I'll be honest, I have no idea."
"Good enough!" Sitara cheered.
"For?" Emma asked.
"Look, let's go out and celebrate. Owen knows he's in danger right now. He won't bother us tonight," Sitara said.
"What if we draw him out?" Emma asked.
"Even better," Wrench said dangerously and winked.
Emma chuckled, "Yeah, you're right. They're probably scared. Is this worth celebrating though? I'm with Ray, it might be too soon."
"We definitely gotta take the time to appreciate the small victories, too," Marcus said.
"Come ooon! It's been weeks!" Sitara said and threw her arm around Josh, who just shrugged it off.
"Don't," He muttered, but followed Sitara to the stairs to leave the hackerspace.
Marcus followed her and Wrench looked at Emma before he moved. She smiled and turned to Ray, "You in?" She asked.
Ray couldn't handle being around Emma right now, "Hah, you kids have fun. I'll just... be here. You know, just in case," He said.
"Just in case for what?" Emma asked concerned.
"Don't worry about it. Go have fun!" Ray said and waved his hands at her. When everyone left, Ray just stood there alone. What was he going to do about Emma and the Blackout news? He's been living with the guilt for 14 years, but being around someone who was affected by it was a new feeling. He and Emma started off on the wrong foot. He believed she was a traitor. He still wouldn't completely rule that out, but he's gotten to know her. And she was now dating Wrench. This was a mess even Ray wasn't sure how to get out of. He sat down at the table and let out a deep sigh.
~~~ Later at Pier 23 ~~~
"Cheers to cornering our prey!" Sitara said raising her shot glass as did everyone else.
"To progress!" Marcus cheered.
"To progress!" The rest cheered and downed their shots. Josh made a face at the shot, so Emma gave him her soda to use as a chaser.
"Thank you," He said drinking it.
Emma quickly took the drink back from him so she could also use it as a chaser, "I can't do shots either," She said to him.
"Hey, Emma, remember when you didn't want to work with us?" Marcus asked.
"I've been wrong many times," Emma smiled, "I just can't believe we've made it this far..."
The waiter came by with a tray full of more shots, "Hell yeah keep em coming!" Wrench said grabbing one, spilling it over Sitara.
"Ah! Wrench!" She said.
"Sorry, sorry," He apologized.
"To spilling drinks!" Emma cheered.
"To spilling drinks!" They all laughed and took the next shot.
An hour and several shots later...
"So like, can Aquaman summon a sharknado?" Wrench asked like he's been thinking about it for a while.
"You've been sitting quiet thinking about Aquaman?" Sitara asked taken aback by his randomness.
"If he wanted to, of course," Emma said laughing.
"Big deal. Even Tara Reid can fight off a Sharknado," Marcus defended.
"That's true, she's been in like all of them, right?" Wrench asked.
"Has she?" Marcus asked.
"I'm asking you!" Wrench asked.
"There's more than one Sharknado movie?" Emma asked.
"Do you just like... not watch movies?" Wrench asked.
"Yeah. Good ones!" Emma said back.
Wrench scoffed, "Okay, you can't even say that because you still haven't finished Predator."
"Yeah, well if Ray were here, I could blame him!" Emma said.
"You had years to see it!" Sitara said.
"You had your whole life," Wrench added.
"Okayokayokay, If i buy the next round of drinks, will I be forgiven?" Emma asked.
"No, but it'll help," Marcus said.
Emma chuckled and stood up stumbling, "Onto the bar!"
Wrench stood up after her, "Aaaand I'll go with you!" He said matching her excitement.
"Okay, but be careful. Ground's moving," Emma said seriously.
"Just don't look at it," Wrench said giving a solution. Marcus and Sitara laughed at the drunk mess they've become. With love, of course.
"Does that work?" They heard Emma ask.
On the way there, Emma was listening to the voices around her. The Pier was a place members of Dedsec often went to. They'd surely recognize her. She swore they were talking about her.
"Is that her?"
"What does he see in her?"
"What does she see in him?"
"They're both weirdos."
She wasn't imaging it. Wrench's voice broke her out of the trance, "Emmmaaaaa"
Emma turned to Wrench. She didn't realize how close she already was to him so she stepped back a bit. Would getting closer be weird, though? She thought about it, but it would probably only bring up more attention, "They're talking about me," Emma muttered, unsure if it's from being drunk or self-conscious.
"Ignore them," Wrench said, rubbing her back slightly.
Emma looked up at him, taking a bit to focus on him. She squinted her eyes to see him better. But after that, all of her attention was on him. She watched as he ordered the bucket of beers for the table. Emma rest her elbows on the table, waiting for the drinks. She leaned towards Wrench, "I was supposed to get the next round," She said.
Wrench smiled with his mask, "You were too slow."
"You're...slow," She said back at him.
"Ouch," Wrench said putting a hand on his heart.
Emma smiled and reached for the hand that was resting on his heart, "I'm sorry I'm such an idiot. Relationship stuff freaks me out, I guess..."
"What?" Wrench asked confused.
"I didn't mean to blurt that out. I just don't like it when we fight," Emma said softly "I just need you to know it's me, not you... As cliche as that sounds."
Wrench nodded and didn't say anything. It's not him, it's her. He thought about it, "I feel like I've heard that before. You're not... breaking up with me, are you?" He asked with a wink on his mask.
Emma chuckled, "Of course not!"
Wrench smiled, "You know, I'd thought you'd be the cool one in the relationship."
"You don't think I'm cool?" Emma asked.
"You're just as much of a nervous wreck as I am," He mused.
Emma struggled to think of what to say next. Of course he was right, "No i'm not!" She fought.
"I'm not judging!" Wrench said.
Emma smiled so wide her eyes were squinting, "Maybe I like you too much."
"What?" Wrench deadpanned.
"Yeah that's it!" She confirmed. Wrench wasn't expecting to hear that. He couldn't even say anything back. Emma giggled and touched his arm, "Like, what if we're going too fast. I'm closer to you than I've been with anyone," She gushed.
"Me?" He asked as a reflex. He wanted to ask so much more, but he didn't know how. What did she mean going too fast? They barely just kissed!
"The first guy I ever really liked just disappeared on me and moved 4 states over. My first boyfriend in high school only dated me to make someone else jealous. My first boyfriend in college dumped me for Heather. Then I dated Owen," She explained, "And now you, and it scares me how much I actually like you."
"It scares me, too," Wrench said quietly, "But it's a good kind of scared, right?"
"I kinda like it," Emma smiled.
"And I promise I'm not like any of the other guys. I'm not moving, and I don't even know what people see in Heather!" Wrench says.
"Because she's so pretty and slutty!" Emma said.
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Know what? Let me go call her up," Wrench said sarcastically, pretending to reach for his phone.
Emma laughed, "You're dumb," She muttered.
"Youuuuu love iiit," Wrench drawled out.
"Yeahhh," She drawled out softly, mocking him.
So not fair, he thought. Wrench wanted to say something that could either help or ruin the moment. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was drunk, this was the moment to say things he'd later regret! But something else was bothering him more. He cleared his throat, but Emma spoke up again, "I feel like any second, something could go wrong," Her face fell, "And now Sam is back..."
Wrench knew she was right. A lot of things could go wrong. Her talking to Sam could have gone so south. He wished she trusted him enough to say something, "Why didn't you tell me about him?" Wrench asked.
Emma wished the conversation to turn in that direction, "I'm sorry...I wanted to! Earlier, actually. I-I saw Owen..." Emma said.
"Today?" Wrench asked.
Emma nodded, "I was scared, and I just wanted to tell you that I saw him and everything about Sam. Then I went to see you in the garage today, and...I just forgot why I was scared," She smiled and looked down while playing with her hands. He made her feel safe? Wrench thought about it, "That sounds really cheesy, I know..."
"N-No!" He said quickly to interrupt her, "I like that I can make you feel less scared," He said displaying happy eyes on his mask. Emma smiled back which Wrench loved, "But please don't do anything stupid."
"You're one to talk," Emma scoffed. Wrench was always doing reckless things.
"That's part of my charm, though!" Wrench said.
"Yeah, I like you more when you're alive, if you don't mind," Emma chuckled.
"Noted," Wrench said, still smiling.
"Ayyyy!" They heard Marcus call over, "Where's our drinks!?"
"Oh, yeah. Should probably..." Wrench didn't finish his sentence as he grabbed the bucket of beers that they didn't even notice was in front of them.
"Hey, you want to leave and, I don't know, watch a movie?" Emma asked and casually ran her hand up his forearm, tracing one of his tattoos.
"You're not going to make me watch some lame rom com, right?" Wrench joked.
"I think you know me better than that," Emma smirked.
"What movies does Sitara even have?" Wrench asked.
Emma bit her lip, "Oh...I didn't mean Sitara's."
Wrench panicked slightly, trying not to show it, but failed. The physical attention, the lip bite... He got the hint. His mask displayed two circle emotes quickly before they reset back to the default emotes. He immediately went over to Marcus and Sitara's table, slamming the bucket of beers down "Bye," He simply said and walked away, Emma following him, latching onto his arm as they walked away. Marcus couldn't tell which one of them was trying to keep the other from stumbling.
"Oh jeez... Should we let that happen?" Marcus asked, slightly cringing. They were drunk and giggling a bit too much.
Sitara laughed, "I want to make fun of them so bad!"
"Tomorrow is going to be awkward, isn't it?" Josh asked.
~~~ Wrench's Garage ~~~
They don't remember how they got there, but they arrived at Wrench's place. He had an apartment above the garage, that came with the title when he "bought" it.
Emma tore off Wrench's mask before he could even lock the door behind him. She crashed her lips onto his and the momentum pushed him back into the door, the kiss being feverish right away. She set the mask down on a table she assumed was next to them, but the mask hit the floor instead. Neither of them noticed. Emma wrapped her arms around him as Wrench snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he could.
Emma pushed herself back slightly to grip the front of his vest to push it over his shoulder, which he let her do, keeping their lips connected the whole time.
She was drunk, he tried to tell himself. Not that drunk... No! But it felt so great, "Em, you're drunk," He muttered through the kiss.
"Mhm," Emma mumbled.
At least she knew, Wrench thought. That made this okay, he reasoned. Still holding onto her, he walked with her over to the couch. The couch hit the back of her knees and she fell back on the couch, Wrench almost toppling over her. He braced himself so he wouldn't fall on her. Emma started giggling, Wrench chuckling with her, "You okay?" He asked, his voice low.
Emma closed her eyes and nodded, "There's a couch here," She said with a wide grin. So she was super drunk. Not okay.
Wrench stood up straight and walked around the couch next to her, "Yeah I've been meaning to get rid of the thing. Just gets in the way," He joked. She sat up and pulled him back down with her so they were both lying on the couch, Wrench on top of her. Now it was time to panic. What was he doing? Enjoying time with his girlfriend, he answered himself. Emma wrapped a leg over his which prompted him to let his hand snake up her shirt. She twitched from the touch and he immediately removed his hand, "Sorry sorry," He said breaking the kiss, "Going too fast I know, I-"
Emma smiled, "Your hand is cold," She interrupted.
"Oh," He said lamely.
Emma looked him in the eyes, "You know... it is pretty cold out here."
"What happened to that hoodie you stole from me?" Wrench asked, lowering his face down to her neck.
"It's my hoodie now, but I left it at the hackerspace," She answered quietly, feeling his lips make contact with her skin.
Wrench chuckled in her neck, "It's all I had!"
His breath tickling her neck drove her crazy, "Do you have any blankets?"
"No?" He answered after thinking about it. He lifted his face up from her neck.
"You don't have a single blanket," Emma said more than asked.
"I mean, on my bed," Wrench dismissed.
Emma stared for a sec, "Can we use that?" She asked not blinking.
"But I gotta drag that thing here, and then i'll have to drag it back later," Wrench said.
"No you don't," Emma said quietly.
Wrench almost sighed, "Emma, how can we use the blanket if we don't move it?"
"How about we go to your room and you understand what I'm saying." Emma said as clearly as she could.
Wrench finally caught on. Earlier today, she pushed him away because she was too scared of going too fast in their relationship. Yet now, she was talking about going into his room. He didn't feel right about it. His heart might have stopped, "Oh."
Emma smirked, "Oh? That's all you're going to say?" She asked, tracing her fingers over his arm.
Wrench sat up, "Aren't you the one worried about going too fast, or...?"
Emma sat up too and pulled her knees up to her chest, "I think you misunderstood... I meant that... Um..." She said. She already started sobering up on the way to his garage, her liquid courage was failing her, "I don't think we're moving too fast. It's just weird how uhm, close we are already. I feel like I've known you for a lot longer than a month," Emma said.
"Three weeks" Wrench corrected.
"Oh god," Emma said under her breath.
"Yeah, well, what the hell does time know?" Wrench asked confidently.
"Well, it's time, so... kind of a lot," She answered.
"You can watch every episode of X-Files in 3 weeks. But that sounds like it'll take forever, right?"
Emma tilted her head at him and started laughing, "What the fuck are you talking about!?"
"I'm projecting, okay!?" Wrench defended. X-Files was a really long series... "You know I'm right, though!"
I love you, Emma wanted to say. How could she be so freaked out about something and then Wrench say the right thing to make her feel more comfortable, "I know that you're an idiot," Emma said instead.
"Buuuuut?" Wrench drawled out.
Emma sighed, "But you're right."
Wrench laid back on the couch and sighed, "Feels good being right," He said.
Emma eyed him and she had a gleam in her eye, "You know what you get for being right?" She asked in a low voice.
Wrench didn't respond but he turned his head to look at her. She kneeled up and leaned towards him to kiss him. He smiled through the kiss as he lifted one hand up to run through her hair, and rest on the side of her neck. She crawled more over to him and swung one leg over him to straddle him. Both of Wrench's hands moved down to rest on her hips and she pushed herself more into him, no longer afraid of how much she was enjoying being with him. How much she enjoyed being so close to him, emotionally and physically. How she still got the butterflies in her stomach every time she saw him or heard his voice. That was supposed to go away when you leave high school. She would blame it on the alcohol. She'd also blame Wrench's wandering hands on the alcohol. But it was just an excuse to hide that she liked it.
It did scare her, but Wrench wasn't like the others. She somehow knew he wouldn't let her down or disappear from her life.
Emma broke the kiss but she was still only mere inches away from Wrench's face, "You still got that blanket?" She asked in a breathy voice. How long were they making out for?
Wrench was just as out of breath, "Yeah," He said.
Emma got off of his lap and immediately missed the feeling, "Over here?" She asked curiously and started heading for the hallway.
"Wait," Wrench called over and stopped her. He took a second before he could stand up, but he played it off, "You sure?" He asked her.
Emma rolled her eyes, "What, are you going to make me beg?"
"Excuse me for respecting you and trying to be a gentleman," Wrench said. Emma knew he was just messing with her, but she actually started to feel bad, "Although, that'd be pretty hot. And now I feel weird for thinking that's hot," Wrench said cringing.
"Well, not gonna happen, because I'm going in there with or without you," She said and bit her lip, heading towards what she thought was a room.
"Emma," Wrench called over one more time.
"Whaaaa-Ah!" She screamed when Wrench bent down to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, "Put me down!"
Wrench turned to go into his room, "You were heading towards a closet!" He said and plopped her down on his bed. It was a further drop that she was expected, considering the mattress was directly on the floor. He climbed over her and started kissing her, even though she was still laughing.
"You could have said something!" Emma said.
"I did!" Wrench responded.
"Without picking me up!" Emma said.
"Awww, where's the fun in that?" Wrench asked, nuzzling her neck.
"You're such a jerk," She breathed out, again enjoying the sensation of his breath on her neck.
Wrench started to notice a pattern, "All this name calling today. I'm starting to think you're using it in place of other words."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Emma humored him.
"Ohhh I don't know... Amazing, handsome, the best engineer you know," Wrench said.
Emma laughed, "My my, where's all this confidence coming from?"
"Alcohol, mostly. And... well, you," Wrench said.
Emma smiled. Whether it was the alcohol, or he was just getting more comfortable around her, the Wrench in front of her was the Wrench she first got to know. When he wasn't wearing his mask, he always seemed to tense and serious, but here he was, flirting and cracking jokes. Unmasked.
But she had a feeling that it was mostly the alcohol. Emma pushed herself up to capture his lips and pull him back down with her, Wrench wrapping the blanket over them.
Fluff?
Fluff ;)
Oh and they seem a little comfortable with their victory, don't they? Hmmmm ;)