The hunter; hunted and hunting (open)

[Tristan Caine]

Tristan was alone. In fact he had never been so alone. He hadn't contacted his handler in over 48 hours. He was officially MIA. Being an operator carried ALOT of weight and flexibility. If the information he had stolen wasn't noted then he could write it off easily. If the copying of sensitive information was noticed and he was missing when it happened... Well his chances were slim. Most mutants never knew they were even being followed before being scooped up by an operator. Tristan was all to aware what would come after him if he were discovered. The thought was terrifying. Especially after what he'd seen on his stolen information. Not to mention if things went sideways he was not 100%. As of the last two days he was short 1.5 litres of water, and 1300 calories for his current rate of activity and demand.

He had ditched his wallet, car, phone, watch, clothes, and shoes quickly and in different places around the city. He had cut his hair and changed it back to his natural black, shaved his beard off, altered his stance, the way he walked, and even adopted the accent and vernacular of his surroundings.

Currently he sat in the back of an unknown bar, eyes on the front entrance and six feet from the rear exit. Alternate methods of egress were the windows that lined the joint. He held a glass with his right hand, ready to throw at an assailant or the window. His left hand held a knife in his belt under his jacket. He sipped the water in front of him.

He had no idea where to start. No mission, no intelligence, no backup... Just his instincts, experience, and a moral compass that had quickly become a pain in his ass.

He was working on a very flimsy approach. His limited exposure to mutants had taught him well. Mutants noticed things others didn't. Maybe it was a marker for all of them, perhaps it was bred from being hunted, or by chance it was simply a fluke of the mutants he had caught. He couldn't be sure.

The place he had chosen to sit and how he sat up straight, the hand in his belt, the disposable phone on the table in front of him, the fact he was drinking water at a bar... he even took the time to find clothes that were neat in appearance although hooded to hide his features. To everyone else, he seemed normal enough. To someone trying to remain hidden, they would notice him in an instant. All he had to do was wait. And notice anyone who noticed him, of course.

He shifted slightly. The discomfort stemming from the sensitive information he was carrying. It was everything he could get hid hands on about what the government was really up to. It was horrifying to put it mildly. Even his trained and hardened soul stirred at what he'd seen. Faces that he'd been responsible for putting there...

He had to put it right. And he knew exactly how to do it. He just needed help. He needed friends.

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/x2Lvu.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]A quiet statement had gone around the department: an operator hasn’t contacted his handler and not only that but information has been taken. That wasn’t good or a good image on them. A messy, blond headed man sighed staring at his computer, there went a relaxing evening, away because someone and some information went missing just two days ago. Evron stood up slowly and stretched, readjusting his tie and putting his business jacket back on. Of course, he got made fun of most of time, being told that he looked like the Men in Black; all he needed were the slick pair of shades. Once he walked out of the building, he looked up the sky a sigh releasing his lips once more as he took out a pack of cigarettes, taping for one to come out. He lit it and inhaled, feeling a little better, Evron started to walk. He stared at his phone; the information of the man was on it: Name: Tristan Caine Age: 25 Hair Color: Unknown Eye Color: Black Extra: Be on the lookout, we don’t know where his is hiding out. Potential threat level is high be on guard when around this individual, do not take any chances. When found apprehend and bring him back immediately. Very little information, not very helpful. Jesus, sometimes he hated his job, but they took care of him and his needs, not only that but he needed to stay just for her. He slowly walked around the town, to everyone he was just a business man, getting of work, from his looks, which suited him; this job could cost him his life and possibly those around him, which is why he had kept most of friends from truly finding out what he does. Not only that but the citizens didn’t need to know; ignorance is bliss, correct? People don’t want this knowledge of what the government truly does and it was fine by him to keep all these people in the dark. Finally getting out of his own thoughts, Evron looked up to find himself standing in front of a bar. What better place to get information than at a bar. It seemed too clichéd for Evron, he only shook his head in the irony. This isn’t a movie but real life, who would actually know of this person? No one to be the answer. Walking inside, there was a quiet buzz as people were nursing their drinks from a long and agonizing day of work. Evron swore to never drink again, especially after that day. Evron’s dark eyes scanned the area, just to make sure it was safe, you never knew when a monster would pop out. One person stood out, his hood was up and he had glass of water? There was no one else around him, Evron should know after going to parties with his buddies. He slowly started to walk up to the hooded person uncertain of what he would do. Evron shifted his hand into his jacket, between a gun to shoot or the taser gun that he kept on him, he didn’t want to make much of a scene here. He walked up and took a seat next to him. A waiting game, one of Evron’s favorite games. He would always do this when he had to chase a mutant down and now he had to do it to one of his people. Just a normal day right? [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Tristan Caine]

Tristan didn't shift, didn't blink, didn't move at all. His eyes took in every detail. Slight build, pressed black suit, wrinkles indicated just off of work. Cigarette smell was obvious as was the rectangular bulge in his pocket. Carried himself erect enough, and clearly noticed Tristan.

The way he walked in was the kicker. One of his arms swung freely while the other hesitated, if only just a little. Tristan knew this man was carrying before he slipped his arm in his jacket and sat down. A rookie move like that, smoker, not an operator... Mutant? Unlikely. Mutants relied on their abilities, liked to stay under the radar. Few carried firearms. Not a cop either, wrong haircut. That left agent of some kind. Which meant he'd been made.

Question now was... What to do. He weighed options. Laying low was key. He knew there 19 people in the bar no cameras. too risky. Alley out back. He couldn't risk the gunshot... He gave this man a sidelong glance. An agent, but inexperienced. Clearly ready to use that gun if required. Not likely to respond to threat. Direct action instead. Assessment: alternative solution. Violence if necessary.

These thoughts took Tristan the span of three second to process. Time for the hail mary. He slowly lifted both his hands and placed them on the table.

"Interesting," he said out loud. He drank the last of his water and pushed the glass to the end of the table. "Do you think there's any chance we walk our separate ways at the end of the day? Or do we arm wrestle for it?"

His right sleeve concealed the needle. It was a move he'd used countless times. Operators rarely took chances. He waited, no visible tenseness or unease. But if things went sideways all he needed was a split second.

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/x2Lvu.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]So, this was an operator and the text was right. Well, damn, there went the peace he was expecting, Evron kept his arm in his jacket for a moment after listening to what the man had to say. Evron needed to keep the situation under control and keep his head cool. He wouldn’t want to over harm the man, but beat him enough to bring him back. Evron leaned back and brought his hands up a slight smirk on face. “Well, I’m not one to arm wrestle until I know my oppressor.” He crossed his arms, he looked at Tristan. This man was threat and it would be better to know him better than to jump head first, unlike most co-workers that he knew who would go into a blaze of glory at this time. Was that why they picked him, maybe to see what Tristan would do? Great, Evron was bait, right? He pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve tension, he had to serve his time and he highly doubted he could quite. Just your everyday regular agent folks; there’s nothing worry about when we’re around in the area, we just take the sacrifices that the higher ups are scared to take. “How about we go out for a walk, it’s kind of stuffy in here.” He brought his hand out and motioned to exit the bar. He slowly stood up, showing that he wouldn’t do anything. This was just great for him; there was no training as to what would happen if you ran into one of these people. Plus he would rather live than die, Evron had to many things to look forward to at the moment. He just couldn’t let it end in this fashion. So slow and steady would be the motto for the time being. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Tristan Caine]

Tristan couldn't help but start to like the guy. He was trying to assess and he was adapting well. The operator cooly reassessed the situation.

"A walk sounds fine," he said. Again, threats were not required. If this man knew who he was then there was no need to. And if he didn't, there was no need to promote any aggression. He walked quickly out the back door of the bar into the alleyway and waited arms slightly outstretched for easy viewing. Despite himself, his muscles tensed. He didn't like this. At all.

"I suppose you already know me. But who are you?"

It was tense, no doubt. But Tristan had to know more about the man. Maybe... Just maybe, he could talk his way through this. And if not? Well he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Do you even know the story? Did they tell you anything? Or did you get a text or email with my name, a crime, and nothing else?"

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/x2Lvu.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]Apart of Evron felt relieved that the tension had settled down, yep this was slow and steady. Out they went into the evening air. The side alley was quiet and a place you wouldn’t want to be at if you weren’t armed and knew how to use the weapon. Evron stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked over at Tristan then squinting down to the ground. “Just some unknown agent.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Despite being there for some time, there was still no promotion for him, just praises for the work that he was doing. Evron didn’t trust on giving too much information away, life was complicated enough as it seemed. He looked back up at the man as he asked him questions. He reached for his pack of cigs, taking on out, but stopped before lighting it up. “You, uh, don’t mind?” Evron pointed to the cigarette that rested between his lips, slowly blinking innocently. While waiting for an answer he gave his answer. “To tell you the truth; higher ups would rather see us do a smooth operation without all the details. To say the least, I only know the information that I had received. But rumors spread quickly; some say you were forced to take information.” Evron paused for a moment; his eyes flickered to the floor and back up. “Others say you just stole the information.” A frown came on his face. “Either way, this isn’t good. What you’re doing of course. They want you to come back.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]

[Tristan Caine]

He nodded as he waved his approval. "They're your lungs." He noted in a split second the dumpster, piping on the wall, the lamp over the door as the only light source.

"No they, don't like giving information, do they." It wasn't a question.

He wanted to sigh but he was better than giving away any signs of stress. Things had eased, but there was never a reason to unwind. It was how high strung he was that had kept him alive so far. When tracking and catching a super being, one cannot afford mistakes.

He spoke evenly, staring at this agent with cold and calculating eyes. "Fair enough, Agent Doe. Call me Caine. I can't speak as to how I obtained the information or the circumstances leading up to it's landing in my possession. I will, however, tell you what's on it." He let a moment pass. "You've heard the rumors about experiments, torture, interrogation... I think on some level we all believed it. But it's much worse to see it happen." He let that settle for another moment. He hadn't dropped the ace yet.

"Do you know what the experiments are for? No. Of course you don't. They're backwards engineering the DNA, studying the mutations, and trying to solve for the only X they haven't found yet..." He paused again, waiting to see if this man had figured it out yet.

"They're attempting to recreate the virus." Tristan went silent, waiting for the inevitable gears to start turning in Agent Doe's head as he wrapped his head around what this could mean if it was successful. He knew the news had hit him like a blow to the ribs.

"They're not exactly close but they are making progress. If you don't believe me, see for yourself." Tristan tossed the flash drive at the agent and instantly the light over the door way intensified, shattered followed by a small explosion and a loud bang. It would be enough to cause a man to flinch. In a blink, Tristan was on the roof.

"Call me when you want to talk."

Tristan took off across the rooftops at full speed.

On the ground next to the back door of the bar would be some shattered glass, the remnants of a plastic lighter used for the distraction, and a small thumb drive with his phone number etched on the side with his fingernail. Faint, but readable.

[Evron Glower]

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] [STYLE=height: 250px; width: 460px; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.7; border-radius: 30px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/x2Lvu.gif);][/style][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-size: 45px; color: #E7E1CD; text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: -30px; letter-spacing: -3px; opacity: 0.99; text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #000000;]YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -10px; color: #CEC6AA; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;]SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS[/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; margin-right: 13px; margin-left: 13px; text-align: justify; background-color: #696969; padding: 13px; color: #000000; margin-top: 6px; opacity: 0.95; margin-bottom: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 30px; border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;]Evron gave a swift nodded and lit his cigarette. He took in the nicotine, a sad little addiction he had, but it could’ve been worse. He blinked when it seemed like Tristan asked or agreed with him. Evron sighed, allowing smoke to escape his mouth, it formed a small cloud and drifted upwards, he watched it but then felt intensity from the man, Agent Doe, that’s cute. Evron nodded when he was allowed to call the man Caine, fair enough with him, Evron didn’t feel like they were up to first name bases anyway, plus the less information Evron gave the safer he felt. Ok, so he got the information but won’t say how he did get it. But here came the best thing, what was this information. Evron nodded slowly agreeing with what they would do to the captives, but it seems they would do something more than just that. It stopped his thoughts in its track. It’s worse? Once more he released smoke before inhaling. Backwards engineering? Ok, so they’re finding a cure right? It had to be that. He only had a business degree so all of this was slight mumbo jumbo. But he kept his mouth shut; Evron had to listen to everything, to see if everything fit in his somewhat organized world. Recreate the virus? Jesus H. Christ, he had read about that, it happened so long ago. But why do they want to do that? Evron fiddled with his tie as he let it sink in; this was worse, he was right or he could be lying? There was too much, he was a follow the lines kind of guy never going against those who had power. He rolled the cigarette on his lips, the ash falling to the ground. He looked up as Tristan threw a flashdrive, but before he could catch it there was a flash. Evron shut his eyes, clinching his shoulders up around his neck. Once the light was gone, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking to readjust to the current light, white spots in his vision. Once being told to contact him when they could talk, Tristan was gone. He looked down at his almost finished cigarette then back up; he stepped on it and walked to where the flashdrive was located. He swooped and picked it up bringing it up to the light from the sky. There it was top secret information. It felt heavy in his hand, a big responsibility and possibly a target on his back. He walked out of the alley, stuffing the thumb drive into his pocket; he’ll have to be careful when uploading the information. It seemed like things will get messy now and there was no going back. He really needed a raise now. [/style][STYLE=width: 400px; text-align: center; font-size: 9px; color: #565656; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 0px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 3px; opacity: 0.9;]made by kiwii at btn & ote![/style]