[open] funny how fast things change

[5055034455]

Date & Time: April 18, morning/afternoon
Location: The Hold, the police station
Characters: Saul & you!
Summary: It's not laser tag, but at least he gets to shoot something. Pissed off as Saul may be, he knows he has to go get Jesse's records. First, though, he's going to blow off some steam and finally get acquainted with his weapon.
Warnings: n/a at the moment.

[Early morning finds Saul, surprisingly enough, in the Hold.

He doesn't like this place.

Then again, that can be said about this whole place, not just the Hold.

Anyway, there he is, down in one of the training rooms with his weapon and a box of cartridges that look just like the ones his weapon is meant to use but aren't quite. They're not electrified, these cartridges — he doesn't see the point in firing those at a training dummy. It'd be a waste.

And because someone made the mistake of telling him this thing is supposed to be sentient, he's talking to it.

The dummy he's been firing at has few cartridges sticking out of its torso. The rest? Stuck to the wall behind it.]

Come on, you piece of junk. Be sentient, or whatever. Aim yourself. God damn —

[He aims, fires off another round. This one winds up jammed at an awkward angle in the floor.]

Son of a bitch!

[Here's the thing: he doesn't know how to fire a gun like this. He also started the day off mad — actually, he hasn't stopped being mad since he talked to Lisbeth — and he's just getting madder. Mad enough that he almost flings his weapon across the room, but stops himself before he lets go, so all he really manages to do is tweak a muscle in his arm.]

*

[Luckily, being angry takes a lot of energy, so by the time he finishes off the box of rounds and changes into a suit (a suit that's in dire need of tailoring and a splash or two of color, but beggars can't be choosers) for his field trip to the police station, he's much more subdued.

Still mad, though.

He has no idea what he's going to come up against, once he gets there. What he'll find out, what will change as a consequence of him finding out, yadda yadda, blah blah, shit sucks. And while it's true that he wanted the chance to do his job again, he wasn't really hoping for this.

After pacing on the steps of the station for a solid three minutes full of fidgeting with his briefcase and tie, he passes through the door and assumes as cool an exterior as any, then strides up to the front desk.

And smiles.]

Comments

[5055034455]

Was it contemporary art, at least? Something made out of re-purposed toilet seats? Please tell me you destroyed it.

[Better to talk about his dislike of recent trends than what the hell are you doing, Batgirl.

Batgirl. Hahaha.

He's okay with all of this, for the most part, now that he's nearing the one-month mark. But he still has moments like the one he's having right now, when he really looks at his surroundings and feels like he's in the Twilight Zone. There's a gun in his hands, an upside-down girl in costume off to his side, they're in the middle of a training room in the middle of a building in the middle of the fourth millennium and he needs to sit down.

Over to the nearest bench he goes.]

[controlledvariable]

[Wait.

Wait what.

She totally had a snarky comment about contemporary art, but when she realizes he's walking away. Carefully, she rights herself, watching him with a frown as she tries to work out what's going on. A moment later she's following, taking a seat beside him on the bench.]

You okay?

[5055034455]

Am I allowed to play the "I'm too old for this shit" card?

[Because he really thinks he's too old for this shit, despite the fact that he's not really that old.

He appreciates that she's joined him, though. That's... nice.]

[controlledvariable]

[This feels like a trick question; she's fairly sure adults don't like being called old.]

I don't think you're old enough to.

[She gives him an apologetic look, but there's a bit of a smile in it, trying to be reassuring.

If he'll let her, she's going to take the gun and make sure there are no cartridges in it right now, just to be sure.]

[5055034455]

[OH NO AND NOW SHE'S FOLLOWING HIS CUES STEPH GET AWAY WHILE YOU STILL CAN...

He lets her take it, then realizes what she's doing and gives her a sidelong stare.]

Really?

[controlledvariable]

What?

[The most innocent of expressions, which is made a little difficult by the whole cowl, but she doesn't pause in her task until she's done, then she sets the gun down on the bench.]

[5055034455]

[The look he gives her is a very clear you know what. But — okay, fine, whatever. Maybe she has the right idea.

He may not be too old for this shit, but he sure is too tired for it. He rubs his forehead for a moment, then glances over at Steph.]

Can you show me how to get to the police station?

[controlledvariable]

[She always has the right idea, it's best to learn that from the beginning]

Sure. [Even if she's still wary of the police, especially when it's Transport run, she can understand that other people might find them useful.] Can I ask why?

[She'll leave it be, if he says no, but she's curious.]

[5055034455]

Nope.

[Aw.

Look at that smile.]

[controlledvariable]

Okay. [a shrug; if she was really curious she could find out, but she is a Bat who respects privacy (mostly)] You want directions or an escort?

[5055034455]

[The idea of an escort there is actually really appealing, given the fact that he doesn't trust a damn thing about this place.

...but no, he's a big boy. He can handle it.]

Directions should be enough.

[controlledvariable]

Okay. Do you have your tablet with you?

[She makes a "gimme" gesture, because she'll just put the directions into the maps that come witht he tablet, if he brought his.]

[5055034455]

Yeah. [It's in his suitcase, which is off to the side of the bench. He's a little hesitant to hand it over to someone else — he'd never let anyone handle his phone or his laptop, but...

He retrieves it and hands it to her.

And will be watching her very closely while she works.]

[controlledvariable]

[It won't be a struggle to watch her, since she's actually holding the tablet so he can see what she's doing, almost making a demonstration of how she pulls up the map, sets a destination and gets it to draw a route for her. Then she hands it back to him with a smile.]

You sure you're gonna be okay?

[Not necessarily doubting his ability to cope, but this whole situation can be kind of overwhelming, and he did seem to be a little concerned for his safety, with the whole Jesse Pinkman thing.]

[5055034455]

Yeah.

[No.

Saul takes the tablet, closes out the map, then repeats the steps she just showed him to make sure he gets it. Luckily, he does.

It'd be a little embarrassing, otherwise.

He smiles over at her.]

Thanks.

[controlledvariable]

[Atta boy]

No problem.

[Vigilantes are for helping people, after all. And Steph is just generally kind of glad to help, especially people who seem a bit overwhelmed by the whole alternate universe/time travel/kidnapping thing.]

Hey, look, I'm gonna be out of a town for a couple weeks, but once I'm back it's usually pretty easy to find me around here. [Meaning specifically the training area, which she gestures to indicate.] So feel free to come looking if you need a hand with anything.

[She's wondering if she might regret giving that free range, but. Well. Vigilante.]

[5055034455]

[He looks around and makes a slight face.]

I have to come back here?

[Only half-joking!]

[controlledvariable]

[Well, half-joking or not, it gets a quiet chuckle.]

You could always ask someone to deliver a note for you. Leave it with one of the Initiative guys or something.

[Yes this is a reasonable course of action.]

[5055034455]

That seems like an unnecessary step.

[Something else he could whine about: I have to go out of my way?

He never used to be this unmotivated, we swear. Kidnapping will do that to a guy.]

[controlledvariable]

[In a completely serious tone:] Well, prove to me you're not a supervillain and I'll give you my number.

[She is probably still joking around???]

[5055034455]

[No, Saul can tell she's pretty serious. Even if she is still joking a little, he gets it.]

But you're Batgirl. Even if I were a supervillain, wouldn't you be able to kick my ass up and down the street anyway? What does having your number have to do with anything?

[There's a pause, followed by a smile.]

Unless you think I'm a supervillain who likes to make prank phone calls, in which case — [He holds his hands up.] You caught me.

[controlledvariable]

[She doesn't say "most supervillains could probably kick my ass" because that's not the sort of thing that inspires confidence, and also her pride demands that she refuse to admit such things.

Instead, she shrugs, giving a brief smile for the joke before the expression twists into something more wry.]

You could use it to see who I talk to most, see if I care about them based on how we talk to each other, and since most of us live in the same building it isn't hard to track people down...

[She's just going to trail off and let him fill in the blanks.]

[5055034455]

[Look at her, aware of all the possibilities. Saul likes that. It's nice to see people who are cautious, especially someone in Stephanie's position.

His smile remains, but now it's less amused. There might be some admiration behind it. Maybe.]

Good answer. The thing is, though, I have no idea how to prove I'm not a supervillain. Anyone could be — you can't know for sure. I mean, I could say the same thing. Why should I trust you?

[controlledvariable]

You shouldn't.

[It's as simple as that, really. Why should he trust someone he just met?]

It'd be different, back home, 'cause you don't wear the Bat if you're not one of the good guys. [There's the clear implication that if anyone tried, it wouldn't go well for them.] But it doesn't mean anything here.

[She manages to keep her tone even at that, which is a bit of a challenge when she desperately misses having the symbol mean something. She was just getting used to people taking Batgirl seriously, and here it feels like being Spoiler again.

She's trying not to dwell.]

So you don't have any reason to trust me, and you can't prove to me you're not a supervillain. We just have to make that decision for ourselves.

[Trusting people, sharing secrets, all that stuff.

Maybe she's thinking on this a little more, with the trip looming.]

[5055034455]

[Saul can relate to that, sort of. She's not a Bat, he's not a lawyer. Not Saul Goodman the Lawyer, at least — his name meant something back home, just like her symbol did.

He might as well go back to being a McGill, at this point.

What really gets him, though, is that while he's not a supervillain, he's not exactly a good guy, either. Maybe what Steph is saying has him thinking a little too much about that classification system.

Maybe he's taking this a little too personally.]

I guess the symbol still means something to me. Or maybe I'm just, you know, feeling a little desperate. I had a team of people I could rely on back home. [The word choice there is very deliberate — rely on, not trust. He doesn't really trust anyone, as a general rule. He shrugs a shoulder.] The only person I have here is Jesse, and that's... I know I said it's complicated, but it's more of a mess than that. I wouldn't ask him for anything.