Groza felt some small sympathy for M4. Small, and not much. FAL had raised a good point in that M4 didn't have much by way of things to wear in a civilian context, and Groza didn't inherently disagree with her. But, watching M4 squirm as FAL shoved a variety of clothing at her perhaps verged into the mean. Then again, FAL rarely got quite so into things, and watching provided an interesting experience.
"You're enjoying this." KSG stepped up next to her, somehow staying entirely silent as she did. Groza still hadn't figured that trick out and couldn't say for certain that KSG did anything different from the rest of them. Asking felt like an admission of defeat, and the Russian didn't feel ready to make that admission yet.
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Right." The American didn't believe her, and Groza saw no reason to elaborate. Besides, she felt bad, but frankly, watching M4 squirm, and FAL flounder did prove surprisingly entertaining. It also gave some serious credence to the idea that FAL really didn't have a clue about fashion. Groza could accept that, as it at least gave her something that she could bring to the table. Also being able to dress up her girlfriend sounded nice. "Hard to believe?" Perhaps the unfamiliar feeling of that thought showed on her face more than she expected, if KSG picked up on it.
Part of Groza wanted to play dumb, but KSG potentially had something insightful to say. "Partially."
"Can't say that feeling ever entirely goes." A pause, KSG's hands pushed further into her coat pockets, something Groza started to realize indicated her discomfort. "Well, that's not true. It will fade, but you'll get hit with it every now and again." Looking to M4, who was now wearing a dress that would fit FAL, but was several inches too short for M4 and her lack of confidence in herself, KSG sighed. "You probably should save M4, I'm starting to realize that Five-seveN's accusations of FAL's fashion sense aren't entirely inaccurate. She seems to swing from quite sensible, to utterly clueless."
"You don't strike me as the type to worry about fashion." Groza would save M4, eventually. The idea of KSG knowing what did, and didn't, look good stood out as more confusing and thus in need of exploration, even more when combined with KSG's usual clothing.
"Personally, no." KSG confirmed her suspicions with a wave of her hand. "I stick to black, white, and grey for a reason." Groza nodded, both to show she was listening, even if she spent her time watching FAL, but also to fill the gap that KSG left in the conversation. "But, when you're in a relationship with someone firmly believes that beating games while looking good is superior to optimal play, and she sends you pictures to ask your opinion, you develop at least a vague understanding of what does, and doesn't inflict psychological damage on those in the area."
As explanations went, that one seemed unusually robust. While Groza didn't think she'd ever look to RFB for fashion advice, the gamer did seem to have a basic idea of how to not look like a disaster. Disregarding the event of her trying to mess with KSG by creating something unfathomably ugly. M4 seemed to be trying to talk FAL out of something, if the waving hands, and gestures were to be believed. "At some point on this trip, I wouldn't mind hearing the story behind you two."
"There is an assumption of there being a story." Groza turned, doing her best to express her absolute disbelief. A brief smile followed, before vanishing into KSG's usual nothing. "We'll see." That wasn't a no, so Groza took it as a win. Outside of her outburst at Honey Badger a few days prior, and observations about other people KSG didn't seem keen on opening up to others. "You're better off asking RFB. I make the story rather dry."
"Your version of what story?" M4's tentative question made them both jump. Apparently, they managed to find a few things that FAL and M4 agreed upon, based on the minimal articles of clothing carried with them.
"How she met RFB." Groza nodded to KSG. M4 frowned, looking between the three of them in confusion.
FAL's eyes narrowed, then nodded as she caught on. "I would be more interested in how they got together, how they met sounds rather dull." KSG seemed to recognize what they were doing, if the narrowing of her eyes, and thinning lips were any indication. But, she didn't turn away, and that suggested that she could be persuaded to open up.
"Buy me drinks, and we'll talk."
"Drinks can be arranged for, given we seem to have a few days largely to ourselves." If she was bluffing, Groza wanted to undercut her immediately. Why KSG wanted drinks, Groza didn't know, she didn't seem the type to drink, doubly so given that as a Doll she'd only get drunk if she let herself.
"Works for me." Groza expected KSG to put up more of a fight. M4 opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, eyes darting from FAL to Groza, to KSG and back again, obvious confusion there, but the words seemed caught in her throat. Catching M4's eyes she arched a brow, curious. M4 flushed at being caught before shaking her head just slightly. Groza considered pushing the issue, but decided to let it slide.
-Faded Glory-
"What's bugging you?" M4 had volunteered to be the one to retrieve Fleur, in the interest of not feeling quite so awkward around the other three Dolls. Despite Skorpion's words from weeks prior, she still found them intimidating, even if they were a bit more human. And less human, considering the stories that had been shared. Fleur, meanwhile, didn't seem to get the message. Or, perhaps she was more perceptive than she should have been.
"I feel as if I missed something." M4 settled for the truth. Fleur represented a bit of an outsider, and she did have a different view of things, which made that choice easier.
To her surprise Fleur laughed, a bright, even relaxed, sound. "Probably. FAL and Groza aren't exactly straightforward types. KSG gets along with the Commander, who isn't exactly known for being simple himself." Fleur paused, looking up at the partially shrouded stars, then down to M4 again. "I wouldn't worry about it. You'll start to get comfortable with time."
"But-" She didn't have time.
Fleur cut her off. "He might not admit it if you asked, but secretly part of the Commander's aim is for you to get more comfortable with those three, and them with you." M4 could detect just a hint of annoyance in the teenager's voice. "Just ask them things, I'm sure they'll answer questions. And they aren't half as intimidating as they appear."
"Really?" Skorpion implied similar things, but M4 didn't see it. "I don't see how."
"You've only really dealt with them as soldiers, right?" Fleur's question felt somewhat pointless even as M4 nodded. "Think of this as something entirely different. Being a soldier changed them as people, but they try to be people who aren't soldiers. It even works. Sometimes."
"Sometimes?" That felt like a story.
"FAL and Groza spent a long-time dancing around the fact they wanted to make out for reasons that as far as I can tell were entirely down to have weird hang ups for no reason." M4 made a note to find out that context another time. "The Commander is, well, himself because of the past. PP-2000 and SV-98 got into a blood feud." Fleur rattled off. "It took me awhile to get used to them, heck, it took me a couple weeks to get used to Kalina, and she's a normal person, if you ignore the fact she's sexually attracted to money." M4 choked on her tongue. "Same is true for the rest of them." A beat passed. "The normal person thing. Not sexual attraction to money."
"Maybe." Even with that corroborating piece of wisdom, M4 couldn't shake the feeling of being out of the loop.
"Don't worry about it." Fleur repeated. "Nobody is expecting you to be perfect, you know? If those three are being idiots, tell them that, they'll probably think it's funny."
"Why would-"
"Beats me." Fleur waved a hand, as if the reasoning mattered less than the fact itself.
M4 didn't want to let that idea go. "Then why would you suggest it?"
"Because they'd think it's funny." Fleur repeated. "It's insane but…" She trailed off. "I don't know where I wanted to go with that."
"I think you were trying to make me feel better." At least, that seemed like the goal to M4. "Or were going to make fun of one of those three.
"My first mistake." Fleur managed a half smile. "I really didn't know what I was getting into, agreeing to this."
"We did wonder." Well, M16 wondered, and her sisters agreed with M16's wonderings, while M4 herself didn't quite know what to feel. Fleur didn't quite fit in with the military vibe, but she didn't seem entirely outside of it either.
"Best advice I can give you, if you want to rise up and oppose the government, have a better plan than sneak in places, and steal stuff." Somehow this change of topic seemed to embarrass the teenager more than anything else, and only gave M4 more questions than she started with. "And have an exit strategy. Relying on the people hired to hunt you down to hire you isn't a good one."
M4 took a few seconds to think that one through, before some details filtered back up. "That's why Groza thought all of us coming was a good idea."
"Part of it. Her and FAL aren't exactly the most likable faces here either. Apparently annoyed some important people." The girl continued with an awkward laugh. "I thought Groza was terrifying back then."
M4 didn't miss the past tense. "Now?"
Fleur shrugged. "Scary? Nah. The Commander is the scary one."
M4 knew this would be her best chance to get at least some part of an answer to a question that had been lingering. "Why does everyone think that? He's hard to talk to, but he's not scary."
"You've never been sitting in a chair looking at his hologram with an implicit threat of getting shot in the back of the head looming over you." Fleur shot back. "It's hard to get over that first impression."
"Oh." M4 pushed some hair back out of her face, as she processed those words. She didn't think the Commander would have had anyone shot in the back of the head, but voicing that opinion wouldn't be helpful. "I think he's easier to talk to than Miss Persica."
Fleur jumped on the chance to seemingly change the subject. "Who is that anyway? Her name keeps showing up on deliveries and such, but I can't work out who she is. Searching comes up blank, and exceded Kalina's knowledge of every seller of things in the entire country."
"She's-" M4 paused, trying to work out how to describe Persica. "She's the head of 16Lab." That felt safe, and honest.
"That weird IOP offshoot, right?" When M4 nodded, Fleur hummed. "Perhaps this is the question of someone delusional enough to think she could overthrow a government by being angry enough, but why the hell does some researcher have her own private hit squad? Is that just a Russian thing or-?"
"We aren't a private hit squad." M4 did not squawk, but she came close.
Fleur shot her a look. "Right. Four highly capable dolls, under the authority of one secretive woman, who never appears in public, sent on jobs for her personal benefit, that may, or may not, involve assassinating people?"
"We don't assassinate people!" M4 hissed, the mere idea upsetting all by itself.
"Sure." Fleur didn't seem bothered by her anger. "I know that you know that. Our boss knows that. But you tell some random Russian on the street that some weirdo researcher has a private squad of super Dolls, they're going to assume that's what you do."
"She's not weird." M4 stopped to really think about the reflexive reply. "Cat ears and being addicted to coffee isn't that weird, is it?"
"Absolutely." Fleur didn't hesitate for a moment. "Cat ears alone is weird. There was a guy in one of my classes, his parents got an A-Doll with cat ears, kid never heard the end of it." The teenager shuddered, and M4 decided she didn't want to know.
"Oh." Frowning, M4 quickly reevaluated Fleur. The younger of the two logistics officers proved both more observant and worldly than M4 expected. And given that regular people didn't run around with animals ears, perhaps she had a point.
"You don't know a lot of normal people, do you." The realization seemed to come to Fleur slowly, as she stopped walking. "Actually, you just don't know a lot of people." M4 shook her head. That was hard to deny, given how many people the others seemed able to talk about at length. "Huh."
"Is that…a bad thing?"
"Wrong person to be asking." Fleur started walking again. "I always had a few good friends instead of a lot of okay ones, so I'd say do what works, but not sure you know what works, and don't think you've got great examples to pick from."
"Meaning?"
"Your sisters are a colorful bunch." Fleur shrugged. "One drinks a lot, one seems like something this one weird guy in my Lit classes would have written, one literally punched a Vespid's head in and squished its brains." She paused. "While laughing." Another pause. "Is she always like that?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"Always, uh, violently excited to be committing violence?" Fleur seemed to flounder for words. "And then seems to want you to praise her for it?"
"Yes." M4 sighed. "Nothing I've done convinces her otherwise."
"Huh. Alright then." Fleur nodded, accepting that new information with more grace than M4 expected. "Then again your boss is a coffee addict wearing cat ears so maybe her making dolls who enjoy head pats as a reward for killing things isn't impossible."
"Is it that strange?"
"Yup." Fleur paused. "I suggest you don't tell Five-seveN that detail, she'll never let it go." M4 didn't understand, but she dutifully nodded anyway. Not getting on Five-seveN's bad side felt like a safe bet, given that FAL's helper always seemed to set her slightly on edge. "Those three have some grand plan for tomorrow?"
"I don't think so." They didn't, as part of some strange collective decision to just 'wing it'. Apparently FAL's idea. Or, FAL claimed credit, and the other two didn't argue with her about it.
"Huh. Surprised." Fleur mused. "Not sure what there is for four soldiers who have been ordered to not be soldiers to do."
-Faded Glory-
As it turned out, a lack of plan meant that while Fleur visited her parents and friends, they'd decided to just wander around the city and see what struck someone's fancy.
M4 should have realized that as a bunch of people who knew things about being military, they'd end up following a large group in surplus military gear with obviously plastic guns based on nothing more than a curiosity.
She'd personally never heard of 'airsoft' but KSG seemed to recognize it, making an offhand comment that some old coworkers apparently played. It took only a few minutes and some mental translation help from Groza, for KSG to get information, and money exchanged hands.
The imitation firearms felt wrong in her hands. M4 could hear some mutterings from others getting ready around them, plenty of attention on the four plain clothed women. Some mutterings about 'deadweight' and 'useless' drifted to her ears, with the looks obviously directed towards them.
Not very smart are they. KSG mused in private. M4 shot her a quick look, doing her best to not hide behind the taller Doll. We aren't making a secret of not being normal, and yet here they think we're just some random women off the street.
They aren't used to assessing people as threats. Groza pointed out, even as FAL snorted something incredibly rude. That lot in surplus gear aren't soldiers. One of them pulled up a satellite map, and as they piled out onto the arena, M4 could feel the information link expand, a small bit of her awareness dedicated to tracking a constant feed of information from the other three.
Putting those thoughts aside, M4 let herself fall into a familiar rhythm. The early minutes played out as she expected, plenty of players removed quickly, and even if those in surplus gear weren't actual soldiers they played pretender better than most, and with 'fighting' unorganized people they were easily early moments of the game played out about as M4 expected. Plenty of people were eliminated very quickly, and their team quickly ended up behind.
At first, M4 and the others spread out, moving on their own, only communicating via the network. Superior physical ability meant they were more than a match for any random individual and even pairs and trios tended to fare poorly against the experienced Dolls with her. Eventually though, they started running into the squads of military wannabes, who managed to pose a slightly bigger threat.
Slowly they were pushed into pairs, M4 with KSG and FAL with Groza. It moved the adrenaline needle slightly, ducking and weaving through the constructed battlefield, plastic bullets pinging about her head. There weren't many 'friendlies' left, and those that were struggles to last against a coordinated assault.
KSG on your left. M4 marked the spot on the map, listening for the modest thumps of BBs slapping against a body, followed by a yelp of pain.
The trigger pull, and impacts preceded the angry cry of, "What the hell!" by a few fractions of a second. It had become a common refrain, and M4 had to admit, it was perhaps unfair, now they were gathered together. She didn't need to see someone to shoot at them, aiming using FAL's eyes. Then again, actual combat wasn't all that fair, and none of the four of them were taking it all that seriously, considering the relentless mockery foisted on their victims.
It is a bit embarrassing, getting pinned down in a ruin by a bunch of sweaty tryhards. Groza pointed out, as M4 ducked out just long enough to snipe someone running between cover. He barely runs faster than he walks, what did he think was going to happen?
He also isn't expecting his enemies to have four sets of eyes. M4 sent back. We react faster, and we coordinate by thinking. They- she trailed off. How to describe most of the other team. They spent a lot of time yelling things like 'Clear!' and 'Contact!' ,'Wilco!', or 'Hostile spotted!', which made them really easy to shoot. They even shouted when they threw grenades, which in M4's opinion, defeated the purpose of a grenade. All of which feels a bit pointless.
FAL shook her out of her thoughts. Unless you want to find out if they find getting beat up by a woman hot, I suggest you move.
Moving. M4 didn't bother to ask quite what that first part meant. FAL and Groza's eyes provided her a good path. How many? Four dots flashed up. BBs bounced off the scenery around where KSG and Groza were hiding, two of them rushing forwards to better cover. At least, it would have been better cover, if M4 hadn't shifted, and she tagged one in the chest, spraying down the area the other went for to keep him pinned. Groza.
No verbal reply followed, as FAL fired at the other two, holding them in place, Groza moving around the side.
Pulling back. KSG picked her way between cover as she spoke, and a shout of 'Damnit!' told M4 that Groza took out her target.
FAL keep them there. Don't hit too many. Groza, fall back. We'll let them come to us. More BBs flew overhead and M4 sprinted back into the building they'd tentatively occupied early on, and now could prove an adequate simulated deathtrap.
I would suggest that whatever you are thinking is rather cruel. M4 waited for Groza to go on, as that statement felt incomplete, but the Russian didn't elaborate.
Let them have the first floor. M4 took a few seconds to think. They'll let us know how many are coming with all the yelling they do, and we can just shoot them on the stairs. There was a sense of approval from Groza.
You just want to see the face on some poor sod when he is charging up the stairs, convinced he's super cool, and eats a chest full of BBs from KSG. FAL had stopped shooting as return fire started to grow. Another six joined them, we should have most of the remainder hiding here.
M4 found a spot behind a half wall to rest her weapon, tracking KSG and Groza as they took positions. I don't know what you are talking about.
Sure you don't. Groza laughed over the link. Loser buys dinner?
Loser? M4 checked her sidearm. They'd been careful with 'ammo', more than probably needed, but this might mean she needed a second weapon.
Whoever gets the most targets. KSG filled in. Start fresh from here? M4 got the sense she found that bet amusing. Hardly fair, given that they run around waving signs that scream for FAL to shoot them.
Not my fault they seem to think being a soldier involves a lot of yelling and waving about. FAL found herself a spot.
"-Four hostiles in the building, sir!" The voice was younger, male, muffled by a facemask. M4 marked that as target one.
"Layout?" Older male voice not muffled. M4 marked him as target two. "They've been giving us hell all afternoon, smoking them out is going to be miserable."
Good, someone has a brain. KSG made that sound like an insult. Want to bet he goes in first?
Sucker bet. FAL countered. M4 agreed, shifting to get more comfortable.
"No clue." Target one said something else that M4 didn't hear. "Squad Bravo is ready to move in."
"Get moving." Target two. M4 thought she heard six sets of feet moving in. A door banged off its hinges.
"Clear!"
"Clear!" Another door slammed.
Do they want people in Germany to hear them? M4 asked.
FAL tried to sound dignified. I thought they were trying to wake the dead.
"Grenade!" The muffled pop followed a few seconds later. "Clear!"
We could just rush down there and take them. In all the time she's known her, M4 never heard Groza sound so disappointed.
As funny as that is, I would rather not validate Honey Badger's existence. Networked laughter followed. Actually,
Maybe the second group. M4 suggested.
FAL shifted slightly. I like it.
You would. Groza sounded more found than chiding. Two at the stairs.
Please throw a grenade up here so I can catch it and throw it back. KSG muttered. Please. M4 couldn't tell if she wanted to do that because it would look cool, scare someone, or just out of spite. Asking felt unwise, or at least, as if it would be invoking some terrible wrath.
Two figures charged up the stairs, M4 tracking them via Groza's information stream, watching them sweep back and forth, but blatantly fail to check the back of the stairs. Someone standing there could have hosed them down without hesitation. By some unspoken agreement they held off, curious what they'd do.
The first one chose the worst option. "Clear!"
And now you're dead. FAL sent a small burst hitting one, then Groza tapped the other. M4 watched the icons on the mental map flail and die in an over dramatic manner. Little flags appeared with insults written on them in Russian, as small ghosts floated away crying.
"Bravo 2, Bravo 3, report!" Someone shouted from below, the next group sweeping upwards. "Shit! Hostiles present!"
M4 stuck her pistol around the corner, lining up the shot, and hitting the first man up the stairs in the back of the head, after two shots.
The shout and grenade flew, bouncing off the walls. The remaining members of the squad stormed up the stairs in a clump.
I feel like I'm shooting fish in a barrel. KSG took her shot, the spray getting two, as M4 tagged another, then Groza and FAL split the remaining pair. Which has to qualify as a crime, somehow. Some form of abuse.
It isn't. FAL sounded quite sure, as they started moving, already working on M4's suggestion of ambushing the remaining bunch. I checked.
You checked? Half a demand, half an incredulous question, M4 nearly stumbled over a rock as her focus shifted.
Groza laughter concerned M4 more. FAL is the type to check things like that. M4 didn't understand that at all, but she didn't feel inclined to find out the details. She didn't want to know.
Should only be one big group left. KSG didn't sound bothered. Ambush now, or continue to embarrass them?
Embarrassing. M4 asserted. She didn't know where the sudden desire for vindictiveness came from, but M4 felt like some measure of professional pride was at stake. Same bet?
She got the feeling FAL and Groza traded a grin. Sure.
Watching the next group in fatigues and plate carriers' approach, M4 considered the best way to go executing an ambush. Her eyes drifted down to the readout on the side of the weapon she was holding, a half a plan forming.
Don't engage until I give the signal. M4 sent over the network. She got a series of replies back as her eyes narrowed in on the weapons held by the ones at the front of the group. They seemed more capable than many of the other idiots, and thus, she wanted them out first. With her teammates around the sides, it wouldn't take much, but hearing this bunch play at soldiering had lit a fire in the AR team leader, some measure of professional pride.
Hacking into electronics wasn't something M4 had any lingering knowledge of, only having done so once before, when dealing with Executioners pistol. Still, that represented advanced military-esque technology, and an airsoft gun did not. The network seemed to be open, to allow for the site to monitor things more than likely. M4 followed the digital trail from her own weapon, then back to the weapons of the approaching group.
It didn't take much effort to sort out what did what, whoever had coded the system helpfully labeled the various control functions. Selecting one that regulated firing, M4 put herself in the middle, before preparing.
A quick sprint between two bits of rubble proved enough.
"There!" Surprisingly the voice was female, and M4 felt a sense of vicious glee at the following confusion. "The hell?"
"Suppressing fire!" A beat passed, M4 splitting a bit of her focus off to watch from Groza's eyes. This one was a bit smart, fumbling for a side arm, which M4 also disabled. The man stood, in a clumsy shooting stance, desperately pulling the trigger without effect.
I shouldn't find this funny. KSG mumbled. You aren't going to make them shoot themselves in the face are you?
"What's going on up there!" Someone, probably in charge, called out, moving up to the leading pair. The one who drew his side arm turned.
"Sir, our weapons aren't working." He waved the pistol for effect. M4 considered her timing carefully. "We spotted the enemy and attempted to engage but-"
As the waving pistol passed roughly in line with the 'officer' M4 tripped the firing mechanism, a burst of BBs flying inches from the 'officers' face. "Seems to work pretty well to me." The older man snarled, slapping the fake weapon aside.
"Sorry-"
FAL, make some noise. M4 thought about throwing a rock but having someone else playing distracting seemed better.
A sharp crack filled the air, and M4 winced. If she didn't know better that sounded painful. Three of those still hanging back spun, and were left staring stupidly as they pulled the trigger on their weapons, only to have nothing happen.
"Sir it's happening to us too!" One of them yelled. From Groza's position it looked like he aimed at a comrade, and M4 let the queued-up shots fire, and tampered with the limiter on rate of fire. Fifty BBs pelted a friendly target in the chest in sequence, producing a garbled yelp of pain as the teenager fell square on his butt.
"Watch your trigger damnit!" The officer whirled to chastise anew.
"I didn't pull the trigger!" The team-killer snapped. "The gun just fired!"
"You know as well as I do that-" M4 made the officers gun fire that time. "Ow! F-" The man caught the curse at the last second, hopping up and down in a cartoonish attempt to alleviate the pain in his foot. "The hell!"
"Carlos!" Someone rushed towards the officer, and M4 triggered several weapons to fire. Two more friendly fire incidents happened, along with a lot of yelling.
Votes to put them out of their misery? M4 shifted her feet. KSG chose to throw a roughly grenade shaped rock, and Groza kicked a large metal drum.
Panicked figures spun, firing, or attempting to, in all directions. M4 randomly let weapons work and not, resulting in confusion, shouting, and smacking of firearms, all to no avail.
I really shouldn't be enjoying this. KSG repeated.
To the contrary. We aren't enjoying it enough. FAL countered. It's not everyday you get to see a group so thoroughly humiliated by themselves.
The actual ambush lasted only a few moments. Perfect coordination meant the only impediment was accuracy and even though M4 relinquished her hold on the enemy weapons they never managed a shot.
As the dust settled, and they handed in their gear, M4 could tell the tenor around them had shifted. Nobody thought the four women in the corner were useless now, plenty of confusion and respect directed at them instead
"Well, that was surprisingly enjoyable." FAL spoke first, and M4 could see several of the people around them jump. Someone mouthed 'wait, they talk?' in disbelief.
"That it was." Groza stretched, rolling her shoulders.
"We were starting to think you guys didn't talk." M4 turned, spotting one of the wanted to be military types standing in a group nearby.
"Course we can talk." KSG's eyes didn't roll, but her tone mirrored it perfectly.
"Forgive me, we didn't hear you say a single word as you were handing us our ass." The man retorted. "Bit disconcerting, you know. Getting smacked around by some silent randoms."
"Not all of us need to run around shouting about if a room is clear, or when we are breaching and clearing." FAL flipped her hair back over her shoulder, going from soldier to snobby in a moment. "Surprise is important on the battlefield."
Another one moved over; arms crossed. "So is communication." M4 recognized the voice as the man she'd mentally called 'Target One'.
"And that can be done without shouting." Crossing her arms, KSG all but dared him to disagree. "Fastest way to get shot, telling the other guy where to shoot."
"Handsigns are useful." FAL piled on. "We use them for a reason." M4 nodded along with that idea, not eager to reveal the truth. "It's also important to check the backside of stairs as you climb."
"Wha-" Target One froze. "How the hell did you know that?"
"You have a recognizable voice." Smiling as she was, one might have mistaken FAL's words for friendly. M4 suspected they were anything but.
I think you mean he has a shootable ass. Groza offered on the network. FAL shot her girlfriend a look, and M4 swallowed a laugh. That seemed to scare that duo off, but before they could properly escape another group approached, this time faced that M4 didn't recognize.
"Hell of a showing for your first time." The person in the lead was a woman, but all three behind her were men. M4 didn't find them particularly noteworthy. "You guys doing anything after this?"
M4 froze, not sure at all how to answer that question. They didn't have any plans, but she very much didn't want to go hang out with strangers.
"I'm afraid we need to be preparing for client meetings." Groza stepped up with that answer.
Client meetings?
Groza sent a mental shrug. If you squint, we are here as bodyguards, so yes.
"Damn. Planning to come back before you're out of the town?" One of the guys spoke up.
"We'll see." KSG shrugged. "Schedule the next few days is busy, so we took our chance to relax while we could."
"Ah, that's too bad." The woman smiled. "If you have some time, hit us up, we'd love to hang out. Anyone who shows up those idiots," She nodded towards the bunch that had been the final enemy, "Is good in our book."
I feel as if this comparison isn't very fair. M4 mused to the group.
"Sure thing." KSG nodded, accepting contact details with a small dip of her head. It is, but gift horses and all that.
Gift horses? M4 repeated, too a long sigh from the shotgun user.
We've got more time to kill, let's find drinks before we start making fun of sweaty tryhards. A pause. And explaining idioms. M4 swore she heard muttering about how researchers needed a kick in the teeth.
-Faded Glory-
"I feel as if this is some sort of protracted revenge." KSG muttered. M4 could see her eyes moving between them in turn, a scowl forming on the white-haired doll's features.
"You haven't done anything worthy of revenge." FAL didn't convince M4, and very much didn't convince KSG, as her scowl deepened. Caught in the corner of the booth she couldn't run, and M4 could gladly let her take the attention.
Seeming to realize she wouldn't win, KSG seemed to choose changing the topic. "Since these two aren't going to ask, you don't seem like the whiskey type." All attention turned back to M4, who shrank back.
"I don't?" Sadly, hiding in her drink wouldn't work, and after swallowing the lump in her throat, M4 forged ahead. "Why not?"
"Mean answer, or nice answer?" While she felt somewhat confident the question was teasing, M4 couldn't be entirely sure. Before M4 could decide, KSG kept going. "Basically, you fit none of the stereotypes of someone who'd drink whiskey for fun. Also, you seem like a lightweight."
FAL snorted into her own drink, which M4 knew M16 would have opinions about. "By that logic, you should be drinking the worst beer on tap, no? "
KSG waved a hand, including what looked suspiciously like a middle finger. "Nobody taught us Americans how to make beer, so we started wrong, and never stopped."
"The couple times M16's dragged me out, it's when I've got." M4 filled the void that retort left behind with the answer to the unspoken question, not quite willing to admit she didn't know anything else, and that she didn't mind the drink anyway.
"Speaking of your sister, she always drinking?" Groza leaned back, an arm slipping around FAL's shoulders as she did so. The Belgian shifted a little closer, swirling her drink as she did.
M4 shrugged. "She drinks a lot, but not always." FAL and Groza exchanged a look "Why?"
"Just...odd." FAL took a sip. "We're Dolls. We can't get drunk unless we choose too, and she doesn't seem to be choosing to get drunk, so the drinking is rather pointless, as I refuse to believe someone could enjoy the taste of what is at best a middling whiskey.
Groza took up the thread. "Amongst your rather colorful group it doesn't stand out, but compared to the wider world it is a rather odd behavior."
"In fairness to M4, her Echelon is hardly that strange by the standards of Sector 9." Smirking behind her own drink, KSG seemed to dare the other two veterans to argue.
"They aren't that strange." Even that measly defense felt weak.
"M4, your squad mates are, in no particular order, an eyepatch wearing 'drunk', the living embodiment of all the worst stereotypes about special forces wannabes, and a violence addict who collects bits of her enemies to make modern art." KSG ticked them off on her fingers. "Granted, mine are a jackass with a chip on her shoulder, a social recluse I keep forcing to not be a recluse, a vegetarian teacher with a sniper rifle, and an actual idiot with a gun, but I'll wear my hypocrisy on this one."
"Honey Badger?" The last one caught her off guard.
"Yeah. Perhaps harsh, she's not an idiot, merely headstrong and convinced of her own invincibility in the way that only someone with the mindset of a nineteen-year-old can be." A long sigh followed. "You'll eventually meet the type." Groza and FAL both nodded along. "Ignoring that, you obviously have an opinion."
"Huh?" M4 blinked, trying to work out why KSG thought that.
"You don't agree with her assessment of your team." Half smiling, Groza nodded towards KSG.
"I don't even know what your description of AR-15 means." M4 settled for that. "And she's just..." A pause, and a sigh. "Insecure? Angry?" They didn't interrupt, seeming content to let her finish working out her thoughts. "She doesn't trust me, or think I'm a good leader."
Again, a bit of a non-verbal communication happened. Not on the network, just the strange, shared experience. "And why not?" While Groza asked the question it seemed to come from all of them.
"I'm quiet, indecisive, and I'm not willing to throw lives away because we're dolls?" Phrasing it as a question to avoid saying that her sister could be callous seemed like a safe bet. M4 didn't think the others would like that trait.
"Of those, I only see one as a potential issue." FAL this time. "Being reserved isn't a leadership issue, as evidenced by that one." Her glass tipped in KSG's direction.
"She's not-" M4 shook her head, not seeing how that connected. "KSG isn't reserved though?"
"Is she not?" FAL took a sip of her drink. "She rarely talks when she doesn't need to, and unless the situations require it, I've never seen her command attention. She listens more than she talks, but when she talks, everyone listens."
"Leadership is as much about respect, and trust as it is anything else M4." Groza now. "FAL got that respect by keeping her team alive, and being willing to sacrifice herself to protect them."
"Groza, a mix of her charming personality, and her loyalty to her people when she was a soldier." FAL received a jab in the side for her trouble, which she answered with a look, and Groza backed down. Returning her attention to M4 FAL hummed. "Do they trust you?"
"I don't know?" Even that little admission felt like failure. None of the three reacted, and she forged ahead before whatever gave her the guts to admit that faded. "STAR doesn't act like she does. I don't think SOP cares as long as she can kill things. And M16..."
"M16 gets on with an ex-Spetznaz." Finishing her drink, KSG snorted. M4 shrugged, not knowing that, but at the same time she couldn't say it surprised her. "You know anything about that?"
"No." M4 shook her head. "M16 doesn't talk about anything before the Anti-Rain." Another look danced between the three of them. "You keep doing that."
This time the shared expression was one of surprise. "Doing what?"
"These looks, where you all agree that you know something without ever saying a word." M4 pushed down a petulant demand for answers. "You do it with each other, and members of your squads."
KSG snorted. "Caught in the act."
"Merely a degree of shared experience." FAL spoke up when KSG didn't seem willing to continue. "Including the idea that the phrase 'doesn't want to talk about it' can mean many different things."
"The literal meaning is of course accurate, but underneath that literal meaning can be a desire to repress memories, a lack of in depth knowledge, an unwillingness to admit forgetfulness or a lie, or some external factor applying pressure."
"She's friends with someone from those sneaky bastards, it's probably she can't talk about it." KSG threw out, glaring down at her empty glass. "
"Those...sneaky bastards?" M4 repeated. Nothing she knew of could explain that particular descriptor.
"Mm." KSG didn't seem keen to elaborate on that point, and from the look on her face, M4 thought it was the first reason on FAL's list. The other two nodded along, a comfortable silence following, before KSG sighed. "We're talking about work."
"We are three people who are married to work as much as our partners." Groza shot back. M4 kept her mouth shut on that count, even as KSG rolled her eyes.
"How did you manage that, by the by?" Leaning more into Groza's shoulder FAL tossed the question out.
"What, end up with RFB?" KSG waited for the nod, then, after staring at her empty drink for a while. Then, she nudged M4 who moved, giving her room to head to the bar. A minute later, she was back, two drinks in hand, but M4 thought she'd seen KSG buy more drinks than that. "Haven't a clue."
"No clue." M4 repeated, shaking her head. "Even, I don't believe that."
The wry smile that followed told her that had been the right answer. "Good choice." KSG waited a few beats for additional comments, but with none coming, she sighed, and kept going. "RFB decided I was interesting when we were both in Minsk. Made it her mission to drag me out of the corner office I basically lived in." Shaking her head at the past, KSG took another drink. "While in Minsk, I gained a reputation, as a Marine, living on the Soviet side of the border. Made people wary, and combine that with me being," A gesture at herself, "myself, and people concluded that if you annoyed me, I'd snap you in half. Then, some other people concluded that I was always annoyed."
"Ah yes, the paragon of calmness snapping someone in half with her bare hands." Groza's eyes were dancing with mirth.
Spreading her hands in vague agreement KSG continued her story. "Either way. RFB was brought in as grunt labor for the IT department. As the new girl, they sent her to bother me about some unimportant thing. Expectation was, RFB would come back scared stiff, everyone would have a laugh. When RFB returned, unharmed and unafraid, she became 'the person to talk to the witch in Logistics and Procurement'."
"That sounds extremely silly." When all eyes turned to her M4 wilted, she swallowed, and kept going. "What would be different about RFB that they thought would make you less likely to be mean to her?"
"See, you're thinking." Wagging in a finger in exaggerated chastisement, KSG's expression turned to amusement. "And, this was at a point where memories of conflict were fresher, and the idea of a former American soldier working in the same building as you got a lot of folks up in arms. I was one of a dozen, if that, Westerners there at all, and I was only there because it was a job I'm good at, and they needed me more than they cared about the internal issues I created by existing. Cheaper to hire me and take advantage of experience and a Doll already intended for a task, instead of finding someone new."
"Makes sense." Groza pulled FAL tighter against her side. "And, you can pay a Doll less."
"You can." KSG agreed, but M4 didn't miss the small turn of her lips. "Regardless, RFB seemed to make it her mission to drag me out of my office, and have something resembling a social life. Apparently, something told her I'd be good at video games, and she more or less lived on my couch in protest of me not doing anything fun."
"Painfully mundane." Shaking her head, FAL heaved a dramatic sigh. "Here I was expecting something more dramatic."
If looks could kill, M4 knew FAL could have withered dead on the spot. "Unlike you two, I'm capable of acting on feelings, and I don't go out of my way to have whacky adventures."
"Those whacky adventures are what make life interesting." Despite the teasing tone, M4 didn't think Groza believed her own words.
"While true, I'm also from a country whose track record of 'whacky little adventures' is not what we'd call good, so I'd rather not become another entry on the list?" KSG let that sink in.
In the quiet, M4 could see attention shift to her. "What?"
"Well, we've done a lot of talking about ourselves, and you're awfully quiet." Despite the probing question, FAL managed a gentler tone than M4 expected.
"I don't-" M4 cut herself off. She really didn't know what to add to all of this. Her life consisted of going on missions, training, and conflicts with her siblings. "Miss Persica keeps us busy with missions and training."
"Sounds like a pain." KSG's eyes were bright, over the rim of her drink. "No time for yourselves?"
M4 shook her head. "Not really." Again, a traded look. This time it felt different, a sort of shared anger. "Miss Skorpion is the first Doll I'd worked with besides my sisters." She left unsaid that this strange group of three were the second.
"That, I think, explains a lot." FAL sighed, then her eyes narrowed, turning her attention to KSG. "Did he know?"
"The Commander? Probably." Shrugging, KSG finished her third drink of the night. "Seems like the sort of thing he'd know, and instead of bringing up, would just ship us all out here on glorified guard duty for 'bonding time'."
"I can't tell if that is meant to be angry or not." M4 mumbled.
"Nah." Shaking her head, KSG managed a thin smile. "Least, not at him. This time."
"This time?"
"His attempts to weasel out of telling us anything? That annoyed me." KSG turned the empty glass around in her hand, watching the light catch. "This? This is just him identifying a problem and then acting in the ways he's familiar with to solve it."
"It's almost forthright of him." M4 got the impression that surprised FAL quite a bit.
"Maybe." M4 could tell plenty of history lived behind that exchange. "I don't know where you are going with this?"
KSG tapped the side of her head. "You're sticking around, and you'll be working with us, so it makes sense for us to get to know about one another." Stopping to lean back, a bit of a gleam appeared in her eyes. "And before you sell yourself short, you've got good instincts, and when you get out of your head, you fit right in."
"I see." M4 looked away unsure of how to respond to that direct compliment. "We've never really worked with anyone else before. And when we have-" It didn't go well.
"Remind me to have a chat with Alfa then." KSG rubbed her temples, then went very still. "M4?"
"Yes?"
"AR-15 is your nominal lieutenant right?" M4 nodded. "That may be bad."
FAL and Groza seemed to have caught on, and as M4 thought she had the same realization. "Ak-Alfa and STAR-"
"With Five-seveN-"
"And SV-98."
All four squad leaders looked at each other, M4 feeling a pit settle in her gut. "The base will still be intact."
"Probably." Three unconfident agreements followed.
"I'll get more drinks." KSG stood. FAL and Groza nodded vigorously, and M4 took one look at her own glass before downing the remains in a single go.
AN: Alternative title: A real girl is made of violence, booze, and nice clothes.
As always, questions, comments, reviews are always appreciated, and a big thanks to Branded.