Sighing, TK pushed away from her desk and headed down the hall. She was about to head out for the night, but decided to stop by the infirmary. She figured since it was so late, August would be there. She wasn't disappointed. She stepped inside, squinting at the sterile lighting. "Hey," she greeted.
He didn't turn around. "TK. Injured?"
"You know me," she responded blankly.
"Drunk?"
"Not your responsibility to know that, champ," she said, sitting on the edge of his desk. He still didn't look at her, gathering the items required to stitch her up.
"I just wanted to see how the mission went," Iniko said simply, leaning against the bench.
"It would've gone better if the system hadn't glitched. My partner was a newbie and she charged straight into the situation. If I hadn't locked her out of the room from where I had to be, I wouldn't have completed it."
"You wouldn't believe the night I had," TK continued, since August was not inclined to talk. "Remember Byte? The Agent I told you I'd been randomly paired with? She's a psycho bitch."
"You mean the girl you referred to as a 'brilliant, talented, and honestly sexy individual'?" August queried in the most monotone of voices.
TK stiffened. "God, did I say that? I was so excited to meet her and learn from her. Turns out she's got a massive superiority complex. Sis was bragging about her connections. 'My brother builds so much for this agency!' I wanted to beat the shit out of her. She paralyzed me. Almost sabotaged the mission by telling me our target was a hostage of all things."
"You don't want to make enemies with the Carter family," he said, suddenly serious as he looked at her. "Did she mention that her brother sells their weapons? That's where most of TIDAL's budget comes from. I'm not sure it's all over the table, so don't mention it. Just…be nice."
"I'd honestly rather shoot myself," she mumbled. "She called herself an elite. More like an elitist piece of shit."
"This is why I only work with you," Carter sighed.
"Sometimes you need to work with others," Iniko replied.
"At least the other people I end up being partnered with know what they're doing," She shot back.
"I'm sure that she thought she did," He said, trying to defend a little.
"Seriously. Carter is untouchable." August finished the last stitch, covering the wound with gauze and bandaging it. "Just fly under the radar and do what you do best."
"You just contradicted yourself," she drawled. "Flying under the radar is the opposite of what I do best."
He shook his head, tapping the side of her face lightly. "Don't be an idiot. Play nice until you rise in the ranks. That's your only play."
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm never going on a mission with that thing again."
"Oh, please don't," he agreed, "she'll definitely watch you die and not give a damn."
"Of course she did. She did when she held a gun to Natalia's head. She did when she knocked Natalia unconscious. She did when she thought that she knew everything. I hate working with newbies. Because they have no experience."
"Okay, you're good to go," he said, leaning back. "I'd tell you to take it easy for a while but I know you won't listen."
TK shrugged lightly. "Thanks, August. I'm going to go home and shoot myself with a stun gun. I'm going to keep doing that until I can recover from it in less than two minutes, just in case the psycho decides to really stun me next time."
"Do you wanna head out?" Iniko asked, and Carter nodded. She packed up her things and then turned off the lights in the lab. She and Iniko linked arms, skipping in time. They started to 'sing' the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and old hobby of theirs.
As TK walked down the hall, she heard… singing? Was someone singing the Wizard of Oz? She peered around the corner, shocked to find Carter arm-in-arm with some guy. She squinted at them, stepping into the hallway. She crossed her arms, unsure of what to say, but sure she didn't want to let them pass her by without talking.
After they finished the song, the two of them stopped skipping, but their arms remained linked. "Wanna go to a bar?" Iniko asked, blue hair sweeping his face.
"You mean do I wanna get drunk? Shit yeah. After the crappy mission I just had."
(Uh,,,,TK just stepped in their way lol)
They hadn't noticed her yet. TK was kind of surprised at how normal Carter sounded. She assumed that the other girl was always neurotic. She stood her ground, watching them with a neutral expression on her face.
(oh sorry i missed that)
Carter glanced up and glared. She turned to Iniko. "Hey, sorry. I just remembered that I left something in the lab. I'll be right back."
(is she leaving to avoid TK or to make sure Iniko doesn't talk to TK)
(she's left iniko in order to avoid tk)
Rude, TK thought, relaxing her face and smiling at Iniko. "Hi," she greeted with a wave. "Sorry, I think I've forgotten your name. I'm new here."
"Agent Cobalt. But you can call me Iniko. Iniko West." His blue eyes sparkled, and his blue hair fell in front of his face.
TK held out her hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you. I'm Agent Aim, but I go by TK." She wasn't in the habit of telling people what her initials stood for. She felt her name was rather ridiculous, and her last name was fairly recognizable. "Are you a friend of Agent Byte?"
"Yeah, we've been best friends since before we could crawl," Iniko smiled, shaking her hand. "And don't pay too much mind to Carter. Ever since her parents died…well, she's closed off. You just have to get through her shell."
TK shrugged, glancing away. "I didn't think she was capable of having a best friend," she laughed. "I don't hate her or anything, don't worry. If we somehow get paired again, I'll still follow my duty as an agent and cover her. But, I gotta admit, she is a godawful partner."
"She's not that bad of a partner," Iniko defended. "If she doesn't like you, she makes it obvious. She's just…set in her ways, I guess."
"Whatever her deal is, I hope she doesn't get paired with any more new kids," she sighed with a half shrug. "She could be the death of them."
"You just gotta get her in a good spot," Iniko said, looking around for Carter. "Look, I kinda like you. And I know that you can get onto Carter's good side. Tell you what. Tomorrow morning, she's gonna be here for training in the gym. Around 6:30. I'll be there too, but in a different area. Just talk to her."
TK considered it. On one hand, she'd have to deal with Carter's near-psychotic behavior and her spoiled rich girl attitude. On the other hand… "Hey, if I go to the gym tomorrow," she said, smiling a bit, "do you think she'd agree to spar with me? Just for fun. Maybe we can work out our differences."
"Uh…" Iniko laughed uncomfortably. "I wouldn't. Carter trains to get her anger out. If she's angry at you…she could really hurt you. And I'm not exaggerating. Carter and I are evenly matched, but she one time broke my arm sparing cause she was angry at her brother."
"Good," TK remarked with a dangerous smirk. "It's been a while since I fought someone that good full on without having to hold back." She decided to ignore the bullet wound in her shoulder. It'd be fine.
He noticed that she had a bullet wound in her shoulder. "I wouldn't spar with Carter. I know that you don't like her, but she can seriously hurt you. She killed that people that murdered Kai, and they were skilled fighters."
She ignored his warning, mostly because she was a better fighter than Carter, but also because she was curious. "Who's Kai?" she asked.
"Someone really close to her."
"Hey Iniko? You ready to go? I've been meaning to test these boots out at the apartment and-Oh. You're still here."
Well, now TK was interested. She thought about asking Carter who Kai was, but decided that maybe that wasn't the best plan. She could always ask her tomorrow. She smiled tightly at Carter. "It's okay, I'm leaving. Iniko is really cool, by the way. I can see how you two would make good partners." She really meant it as an insult –that Iniko was calm and levelheaded and Carter was not– but she left that open to interpretation. "Bye-bye."
