Top Ten in the Charts of Pain [MSAD Debriefing]

[Lala & Reese Degreas]

The Twins didn’t really have a concept of early. It was time. That was all. Time to get up. Time to set their plan into motion. Time to get up. Jesse hadn’t seemed particularly keen on that idea, though when Lala inched into his room, he was already awake. Likely, he hadn’t slept at all. Few had. It wasn’t a time for sleeping. It was a time for planning. One mention of the plan and Jesse had moved into the living room as quickly and easily as the other operatives who had decided to stay behind.

They weren’t many. Reese looked around the room as Lala fiddled with cables between a laptop computer and the television. While not the biggest fan of technology, Reese knew that the visual aids would help. Especially considering how the plan had to be set into motion. It was too much to risk for people to be exacting revenge on the wrong people. And exact revenge they would do.

The television big screen finally flickered to life with a family photo. A blonde man, his husband, and their blonde child. A murderer and the ones he was fooling. Reese didn’t speak as loudly as she usually did, her voice quiet in its shuddering intensity. “The blonde one is the murderer.” She said, finally answering the question everyone had in their minds: Who did this?

“Chase Kilbourne.” Lala pointed as Reese delineated. “Husband James Campbell, a familiar target.” Few had forgotten how Levi had come to live with them. “And Niko. Their son.” Reese tented her fingers and pressed them to her lips, closing her eyes. She wished with all that she had that Gabe was here. That this didn’t have to happen. That the original plan could be carried out. She opened her eyes and met her sister’s gaze, the curly-haired woman’s blank stare a mirror of Reese’s own. “Like he did, we’ll strike him where it hurts, and fight them on our home turf.””

Reese wasn’t stupid. Their ragtag army, no matter how well armed, couldn’t take Hammel on the Institute grounds. At the compound they had an advantage of knowing the turf, as well as the dogs. “Before we continued, I need to know you’re behind this.” Said the Twins in unison, waiting for acknowledgments of loyalty and for questions that were inevitable.

[Jesse Adams]

No, Jesse had not slept all night. It was evident by the dark circles under his eyes. It was probably evident to anyone whose room was close to his. All night, he’d alternated between smashing and tearing things in his room, and curling up on his bed, crying. At one point, he’d been so wound up, he’d punched a hole in his wall. His hair was a mess, his eyes were red, and when the knock came early, he’d been geared to yell at whoever was on the other side. He wanted to be left alone. The only time he’d left his room at all was to attend Gabriel’s burial. He’d watched silently, refusing to show any more emotions. Not after his breakdown in the study.

But he couldn’t bring himself to yell at the twins. Particularly not Lala. When she’d come into his room, he’d lifted his head, ready to throw something at the intruder. But when he saw who it was, he paused. Sitting on his bed, looking a wreck, he’d planned to decline anything she offered. Breakfast, a shoulder to cry on. But when she mentioned the plan, the debriefing, he’d slid off of his bed and padded silently behind her, eyes on the floor.

As the others filtered in, Jesse settled close to Lala, leaning slightly against the woman. He didn’t normally like contact, but the twins were the exception to many of his rules. He waited as patiently as he could, trying to keep his eyes from closing. Finally, they started up the meeting. His eyes flickered dully over the first picture. He recognized them all, instantly. Dr. Campbell, the recruitment officer. Kilbourne, the trainer. And Nikolai. His old roommate. He studied them carefully. Why were they showing them thi –

… Kilbourne had killed Gabriel.

His fists clenched, as did his jaw. He’s a dead man. He listened to the twins, only because he already knew the details of the family. He could be behind this. Someone had to pay for Gabriel’s death. “I know the kid,” he finally managed to growl out. “I used to room with him.” That could come in handy, and he knew that. Like it or not, he could still be linked to Hammel.

“I’m with you,” he offered to them. His loyalty to them, like it had been to Gabriel, was unwavering. “To the end.” Whatever that might be.

[Paulo Ortiz]

"He'll be stupid enough to come back here for them? You put him out a window." Paulo crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. Why would someone risk his life like that?

But as he always did when he knew someone's name, he did a trace. Kilbourne was a while away, at the Campbell was on the other side of Pilot Ridge, in the part of town where the houses are mostly swallowed up by the woods. Their home. He'd traced Campbell to there in the spring, when Gabriel had been planning his assualt. It would be easy enough to attack them there. It was remote and lonely. But if they were sure that Kilbourne was misguided enough to do anything except run after they had his family, then why not bring him back here? "What's the child's full name? I can't find him." When Jesse spoke up, Paulo looked at him in surprise. So the brat might actually be useful. "He's meta? What's his power?" He already knew about Campbell, of course, and his ability might make it hard for them to ambush them. But if they could get their hands on the boy, then all they'd have to get the father to come quietly was tell him that if he yelled, the kid was dead.

Paulo didn't hesitate either when Rees issued her ultimatum. "I'm with you." He had nowhere else to be.

[Delilah Pryce]

Delilah wasn't part of the MSAD, not by any means and wasn't really sure if she wanted to belong in any official capacity. Gabriel had sent her several private messages over the past few months, lining her up for some jobs here and there. To Delilah, it seemed Gabriel had been trying to spark fear in the average human masses. Tension between meta and non-meta humans were already high, but Gabriel apparently wanted them pushed over the edge of what was safe and acceptable. What Gabriel had wanted to accomplish exactly was beyond Delilah's guess and pay grade. She was a professional when it came to these sort of things. There was a job to be done, she had the skills to do it and that was that. As long as the right amount of money was thrown her way, then Delilah would uphold any deals she made. Gabriel had unfortunately died before any contracts could be signed and sealed, but that didn't mean Delilah's relationship with the MSAD had dissolved. Gabriel seemed to have left some sort of trail to her and the twins had sniffed her out.

The few MSAD members Delilah knew seemed competent enough in their own right and from what she had seemed to figure out about Gabriel was that he didn't surround himself with idiots. Of course, none of MSAD members meant anything to Delilah, it was just their money she was interested in. To be honest, Delilah was sort of surprised that Gabriel's little group was still functioning on any level. Usually after cutting the head off the snake, the body went lip, but it seemed the MSAD was more like a hydra than a snake. Two heads had sprung up in place of the one lost and the twins seemed to fill the power vacuum nicely. Lala and Reese cut quite the imposing figure as they stood at the front of the room and Delilah would have been lying had she said neither of them excited her. Gestalt pairs were always interesting and despite how odd their condition, it was more common they most realized. Delilah had met gestalt pairs before, but never a female one. All sorts of lurid thoughts went through her mind, but those would have to wait until later.....if there was a later.

Dressed in a pair of dark brown cargo pants and black combat boots with a greenish-brown long sleeve tee shirt, Delilah kind of blended in to the background. Her long black hair was pulled back into a pony tail out of convenience more than style. She had chose the back of the room, leaning up against a book case, listening and watching intently. She had not been introduced to anyone else of the group and had not even really talked to the twins. She had received an e-mail requesting her presence and possible employment. Delilah felt intrigued by the offer and seeing how she had been in contact with Gabriel previously, she felt no real harm could come from seeing what was going on.

As the large television flickered to life, Delilah's eyes snapped to the picture on the screen. She recognized James Campbell but the other two were mysteries. Apparently the other was Gabriel's murderer, a fact which was nothing more than that for Delilah. She had no reason to feel sorrow for Gabriel's death, but that much she would keep to herself for fear of becoming a target herself. If the MSAD was going to target a member of Hammel's staff, then they better had bring an army. Taking down any part of Hammel's little group was a dangerous and foolish task, but they money was good so Delilah was game. "As soon as the money hits my account, I'm your woman," Delilah said casually, letting the twins know she was in on this private war.

[Lala & Reese Degreas]

The women looked at Jesse with an unreadable gaze. In truth, their heart was churning. There was a strange, unfamiliar guilt in them, asking Jesse to do this. It wasn’t safe for him. The momentary thought crossed their mind: they could run away. They could keep Jesse safe someplace where no one could hurt them again.

But the thought was only momentary.

Gabriel deserved retribution, and Jesse needed it too.

With a new resolve, the Twins continued the debriefing. Jesse’s information regarding his former roommate proved useful, and allowed them to concoct a plan to draw Kilbourne to them.. Systemically all of the questions that could be answered were answered: How it was going to happen. Who it was going to happen to. Why. Where. And especially when.

-----------*---------


A few hours later, the long, painstakingly detailed debriefing had drawn to a close. The TV clicked off behind the twins and Reese spoke up.

“That is all the information we will need to complete this mission.” She murmured, tucking her thumbs into the loops of her jeans. “But there are things that even this cannot prepare us for.” Lala teetered to her feet, standing near her sister’s shoulder, her normally gentle eyes alight with a fearful intensity. The twins spoke in unison once more. “Kilbourne is a coward. There is no telling who he’ll call to his side when we confront him.[/i]” Lala shook her head, presumably in disgust. “But we will not fight him until he is fully healed. Gabriel’s revenge will be honorable[/i]” Reese’s face mirrored her sister’s disgust. “We will not stoop to his level.[/i]”

Reese turned away to move up the stairs. She had suddenly grown sick by the sight of her meager team, and the thought of Gabe’s death once again. Lala remained standing in the silent room, looking over the operatives that had chosen to stay.

“That is all. Prepare yourselves.” She said, her voice strangely smooth. She too turned away. “Poise to attack as soon as possible”

[OoC:: This concludes the MSAD Debriefing! Keep an eye on your PMs for what is to come.]