Chapter Text
She hated doing this.
Her power wasn't needed for the lock- she'd long since stolen and copied the master key, just in case she was ordered to break into Dockworker property. The warehouse itself was easy enough to find- the blocked-up windows and swept-out area in front of the door might as well have put a neon sign for her power.
The door squealed on rusty hinges.
Deliberately allows rust to build up. Warning if home, certain to wake occupants.
She stepped forward cautiously, keeping an eye out. It didn’t look like a Tinker workshop, just empty, a few pieces of metal furniture scattered about. But appearances could be deceiving, and Tinkers were bullshit.
She needed to know if there were traps, after all.
Package under table near door.
Package dark, meant to be concealed.
Package is Tinkertech explosive.
Claymore mine. Box of nails in front for additional shrapnel.
Sensor arc one foot ahead of current position, extends 90 degrees. Meant to allow Azrael to disarm upon entry.
Shit.
She let out a breath, and carefully stepped wide around the package, coming up behind it.
Arming mechanism meant for ease of use. Button under casing.
A click, and the trap was turned off.
Alright. Time to do what she came for.
The note Coil had ordered her to place was set on the one upright cot, still sealed. She knew what it contained- a request to meet at the location she’d been ordered to stay at.
Azrael.
She knew the man would either be killed or recruited- that was how Coil worked when he couldn’t work nice.
And she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
---
The building, though crumbling, still was intact enough to have a quiet meeting. Not intact enough to offer much cover from the sniper she knew Coil had watching her.
She had to be careful. One wrong word, one false move, and she’d join Azrael.
There he was now. The eyes of his gas mask practically glowed in the dusk. He walked jauntily, seemingly unconcerned.
Is happy.
Willing to kill.
His gaze centered on her, and he paused briefly.
Willing to kill.
Unwilling to kill.
He drew closer, entering through an empty hole that might have been a door once.
“You’re the one who left the note? There are easier ways to find me.”
Is annoyed by the fact I broke in.
Well that was fucking obvious.
“Not ones that don't end with an arrest,” she replied brightly, power feeding her body language.
All she had to do was stall.
“Hrrm. So, you here to talk, or is our friend up there going to do something deeply stupid?”
Aware of sniper. Knows it's a trap. Unconcerned. Brute, Breaker, Stranger, Mas -
She shut off the junk conclusions, then took a breath. “I -”
He tackled her as a gunshot boomed, crushing her to the floor.
Shit!
Was aimed at me. Was aimed at him.
The fuck, powers?
“Half a sec’, darlin’,” Azrael drawled, leaping off her and into cover. A bullet knocked chips off the concrete in his wake.
Then her world went green.
Anti-tank weapon.
Sniper very very dead.
Great, her power was developing a sense of humor.
Azrael offered her a hand up. His other hand was occupied nonchalantly hefting a Tinkertech rifle nearly as long as he was tall.
She took it.
“Care to explain everything?” he asked, unconcerned. “Such as, why a minor villain group sees the need to break into my house and leave mysterious notes?”
That was all the incentive she needed.
###
“What the hell, Tats,” Brian said flatly.
“Hey, not her fault,” Azrael replied, leaning against an air-conditioning unit. “I did ask for her to set this up. Saved her ass from getting sniped by Coil, so she owed me a favor.”
What.
Tattletale sighed. “I need to explain. Our boss? Coil.”
What.
As the whole story spilled out- Lisa’s recruitment, Coil’s infiltration, his base and mercs and shadowy contacts- he found himself grateful for the motorcycle helmet- it hid his expression.
If Coil was their boss...Aisha could be in danger. Especially with how Tattletale had been recruited. Coil didn’t care about the Rules.
“...I still don't know why he shot at me. My power keeps giving weird answers.” She glared at Azrael.
“So everything the boss-- Coil -- promised has gone to shit,” Brian said flatly. “That's great. So now what do we do?”
“Well, my plan was to go in, kill everything, and put Coil’s head on the PRT Director’s desk, but apparently your teammate objects to that.”
What.
“So I plan to settle for killing all his mercs and delivering him to the Rig tied up in a pretty pink bow. Figured you'd want to know I'm taking your boss down, so asked Tattletale here to call a meeting after I put an anti-tank round into the sniper Coil had watching.”
There was a quiet voice screaming in the back of Brian's head at this point. He pretended it wasn't there.
“And you’re here... why, exactly? Going to arrest us?” he asked, sending darkness to drift out, ready to blind the crazy bastard.
Azrael cocked his head. “Why bother? You haven't killed anyone, not during your career here at least.”
“How-” Bitch said, taking a step forward, her dogs growling at their mistress’s distress.
“I hacked all the PRT files. All of them.”
Tattletale started laughing.
“Apparently,” Azrael continued, “I accidentally accessed them through Coil's backdoors.” He gave Bitch a glance. “Don't care if you've killed. Would be dishonest to do otherwise.” Back at Brian. “Anyway, I'm going to let Tattletale here handle the rest of Coil's assets while I do the grunt work. Can I count on you to not side with him, then?”
###
Coil was not having a good day.
The timeline split had been simple, for this job- one with the meeting fifteen minutes earlier than the other. It let him know what was going to happen without needing precog.
The earlier timeline had gone wrong very quickly. Carviss had simply walked up, apparently oblivious to the sniper, and engaged Miss Livsey in conversation. The directional mic in the sniper's nest picked up what they were saying quite easily, but none of it was actually important.
They'd still been talking when Carviss had fired his Tinkertech weapon into the sniper, frying both him and the surveillance equipment.
He'd ended the earlier timeline, and split again, waiting for Carviss to arrive. When he did, and they'd started speaking, he'd sent different orders. In one timeline, the sniper fired at Miss Livsey, in the other, Carviss.
Ten minutes later, a swarm of nightmarish creatures burst into his base and began slaughtering everyone. In the other, Carviss killed his sniper again. The first timeline was discarded, and Coil sent orders to put the base on lockdown.
Three hours had passed since then.
Five minutes ago, all the exterior cameras had failed simultaneously.
He'd tried to activate the self-destruct, only to find himself locked out of his own computers.
No matter. His men were prepared, unlike the other timeline. Monsters or not, they weren't bulletproof. They could fight off any attack, especially with him to try everything out in disposable timelines.
He just needed time.
###