Setting One's Sights, part 2

Summary:
January 02, 2015: Let's hear it for awkward car rides home! (Language)

Gotham

Just driving around, leaving the city.


Characters

NPCs

  • None

Mood Music:
None


What's worse than having to deal with unexpected emotional outbursts?

Having offered a ride home to the emotional person. Double the exposure time, none of the hiding spots. Captive audience. Dom's so damn lucky.

Back in the blacked out Jaguar she's quick to put the heat on for her frozen passenger, some of the V8's warmth still lingering from the drive out here. It doesn't hit her right away just how long of a drive it's going to be to get her 'home.' To Stark Tower, isn't it..? Yeah, because that's -exactly- where she wants to be tonight.

She doesn't say a word, simply driving away from the docks and back out into the worn, empty streets.

*

Evelyn's got the wool warm wrapped around her body, her purse was haphazardly tossed to the floor of the passenger seat, the glint of a pistol just hinting at its presence. What's worse than being captive audience? When your captor also has a gun. That's the sort of stakes you play with when your friends are all mercenaries or secret fucking agents. It's been a long night, and the girl's still sniffling a bit, though she's stopped crying. There's one piece of good news.

She's also begun shivering uncontrollably, the natural response kicking in as her body temperatures slowly works itself to get back up. Reactor in overdrive, that's where all her body heat comes from. It'll cut a month off her lifespan. She's silent at first, having never really had the opportunity to ride with Domino anywhere. Usually their meetings are brief and explosive. This is different. She doesn't really know how to act.

Clearing her throat, Eve looks over and says softly, "Nice shooting."

*

"Thanks," Domino flatly replies to the compliment. She, too, has no idea how to feel about the situation. Anything social doesn't tend to agree so well with her, unless heavy drinking and bullshitting is also involved. Generally this only happens with old 'war buddies,' which means there's actually something to talk about as well. 'Remember that one time back in Madripoor? Can't believe you jumped out of that chopper like that!'

What do these two have in common? A fungal zombie virus outbreak from Siberia. An interrogation at Barton's apartment. Some shots exchanged every now and then for good measure, and not the kind you drink.

At least the car warms up quickly. Stupidly large eight cylinder engines will always have a place in this world.

"Why the pier?" she suddenly asks. "Why not a park or an alley like most people? Harbors are usually a bit out of the way for moping purposes."

*

There was that time Domino and Barton were floating to their death. There was also that one time at SHIELD headquarters. Then the semi truck theft that Evelyn thwarted. She's been a pain in the rear and a tremendous boon off and on through their entire relationship. That makes this a bit weird, too.

Hugging the wool cover a bit tighter, Ev ditches her heels on the floor and curls into a ball under the blankets, content to lean against the door with her head against the glass.

"I can't tell you," she replies, "You might use my weakness against me."

*

"You can't tell me that you can't swim?" Dom pointedly asks with a sidelong glance to the synthetic woman. "I already knew that when we shared a dive in the ocean together. What I'm asking is whether you were having thoughts about pulling a Captain America on us all or not. You were out there because you wanted to stare death in the face, correct me if I'm wrong."

(Yeah, this conversation's going wonderfully.)

"If you're so intent on punishing yourself then you should follow my line of work for a while, you'll get so wrecked you won't even remember who you are. At least that way you can try to have a little fun while you're chasing after the fucking Reaper."

*

Evelyn looks over, an eyebrow raised. "I assumed you had forgotten. You weren't in the best condition at the time." There's a bit of an apprehensive pause, "Thanks for saving me, by the way." Evelyn really never got the chance to say that in a sincere way. Domino took an early exit, after all.

"Punishing myself?" She echoes, "I'm not.. punishing myself. I just want people to leave me the fuck alone. There's not a lot of opportunities to be away from people when everybody's watching you." Ev looks back out, still shivering.

*

"Don't mention it," Dom promptly dismisses the thanks with a flat tone. It happened, it's over, there's nothing more to it than that as far as she likes to believe. Compartmentalization, or some such. A complete disconnection of personal feelings.

Then she presses further, another glance preceeding a "You heard me. If you just wanted to be alone there's no shortage of places to go for that, many of them out of the cold. If you wanted to be outside then you would have worn more than ..whatever the hell that is. Argue the point all you want, Ev. You wanted to feel the hurt, and you decided to find one of the places where if one little thing decided to go wrong you would have nowhere else to go but down."

*

Eve glares over at Domino that might as well be shooting bullets at her. Threatening is a good way to put it. Did she strike a nerve? Or is that a little too close to the truth. Or it could not be close at all. "What do you know?" Evelyn snaps back, shaking her head a little.

"You don't know what happened before I went to the docks. You don't even understand how I work. I'm not like you, and you're not my savior or whatever .. shit .. you think you are." All said with a bit of an edge, "You might be a mutant, but I'm a machine. We both sell ourselves out. If I want to sit on a fucking dock until I'm frozen, then fuck you I can."

*

All Domino can do at first is snort, though it doesn't take long for it to be followed by "Fuck you, Ev."

"And you think you know me any better? I'm not your fucking savior, I don't -want- to be your fucking savior. The only thing I can try to be is a sounding board because every time I see you you apparently don't -have- anyone else. If you would rather I went back to putting bullets into your chassis then by all means, let me help you out of the car."

The next turn is taken with more aggression on her part, the back end of the car sliding out with a low growl from the engine.

"You think I WANT to be your damn therapist, Ev? You think this is something I enjoy? I don't know what happened to you before -and I don't care.- All I know is what I see, and what I see is someone that wants to self-destruct. Either you can hear me out or you can stand on the curb and I'll toss a frag your way, should solve your problems good as anything. This 'woe is me' bullshit is gettin' -real- old."

*

"Then why the hell do you get involved?" Evelyn snaps back, finally. Her eyes are on you, for certain. This has always been the long standing question. With the car making a hard turn, she just grips the side but doesn't seem to really even be phased by it.

*

"Because -someone- has to, and dammit if you don't keep dropping in on me when you're at your worst," Domino replies in a dark, almost seething tone. "Things happen for a reason around me, I don't have to like it for it to be important."

*

Evelyn looks mildly grumpy, but she doesn't refute Domino's reply. Her face is flushed, a bit out of anger, a bit out of all this personal material getting dredged back to the surface. She doesn't /like/ talking about all of it, but sometimes it helps to share. This is not one of those times. And though she doesn't say it, she honestly does sort of appreciate Domino's company on her day off.

Stiffening a bit, Ev adjusts the blanket before leaning back against the door. She's not shivering as bad now, the heat of the engine really doing something at the least. Quietly, Evelyn asks, "So what am I supposed to do now? You're right. I'm not moping about just Clint. I'm happy for him, that he found someone. I'm upset that I thought so strongly things were going to work out, and I feel stupid for asking him if he felt the same way. I feel like a goddamn idiot."

*

"That's not something I can answer," Domino replies. "All I can do is point out the faults in the plan -What-" she suddenly demands in a dead level tone, turning to stare at Evelyn.

Here she just thought that Ev had asked Hawkeye out on a date and he turned her down. There had never been any mention of the rejection being due to him having found someone -else.-

"Barton found someone?" It'll probably self-destruct on the guy before the month is through, but..still..!

At least this is proving to be a great distraction from the subject of her being a mutant. She's still not going to confirm nor deny that accusation.

*

"That's helpful," Evelyn responds sarcastically. Her eyes roll and she goes back to laying against the passenger side window. She doesn't seem particularly perturbed by Domino's surprise. "What? You didn't know?" She asks in return, glancing over for a moment.

Shrugging a bit, Ev goes on to say, "I feel like an ass. I didn't want to complicate things for him. But I didn't know."

*

"-No,- I didn't know, and I told you I'm not a damn shrink," Domino counters. "You think he tells me anything? Hell, the only one that -has- talked to me is sitting right beside me."

Yeah, that'd be Evelyn.

"Well, now you know. And so do I." (And I have no reservations against making his life more difficult.) "But look..you can ..just do better," she adds with little grace. "Get over his dumb ass so you can go back to kicking everyone else's ass."

*

"No, you're not." Ev replies, "Just.. Nevermind." In all honesty, if it weren't for tonight, Ev likely wouldn't have brought up the situation with anyone else. It's not really their business that she fails in her romantic life. At least she's talking to Domino instead of shooting at her. That much is at least a bonus.

Honestly, she doesn't want to move on or do better. "It's rare that I feel as protective over someone.. Did I tell you when I was in the CIA, they'd deploy me, alone, to combat zones? I'd be given a highly guarded target and expected to take down any resistance." Evelyn's voice gets quieter. "I killed a man who was supposed to be a threat to this country, and his son in the other room saw me do it." Nothing to say what happened with the kid. She hisses out a sigh, finally not shivering.

"Romance.. Is not my thing," she decides, finally.

*

Evelyn looks up a bit, sort of looking at Domino with this expression. The kind of expression you get when something someone says to you actually sounds reasonable. Looking back down to the floor, she seems to consider what's been said.

"Woof!" Ev gasps in surprise as she's thrown back in her seat suddenly from the acceleration. These cars can go. Sitting back forward, she doesn't even seem to mind the bit of reckless driving. Zoom around a car. Around another one. These empty roads are perfect for speeding. The silence as Ev's been thinking drops when she finally asks, "Show me how. I'll help you out on some jobs."

*

"I'm not talking about for good," quips Eve, glancing over and then to the road. She looks strangely relaxed all of a sudden. The thrill of endorphins? The streetlights zipping by? She's been in a few car chases. For someone so nervous and anxious all the time, she's really got the experience of an agent down. It's almost like stepping constantly between two worlds. Some agents cope by being assholes, or smug as a defensive measure. Others are violent or destructive, like Domino. Eve? She's just anxious and emotional.

The blanket is lowered a little bit, "Can you turn down the heat?" It is getting a little toasty, and her color's returned a bit. No more Evecicle.

"I won't tell her. My assignment right now is to watch Tony, and I've been doing that. Maybe just a couple things on the side won't hurt. Just between you and me." Eve says, shrugging softly again. "What's there to lose?"

*

It really is neat what the risk of death can do for one's demeanor. Domino's focused. Collected. Which is helpful, given the sudden shift of discussion. It's not the sort of place where emotions belong.

She doesn't need to take her eyes off of the road to flick the heater down to a more 'relaxed' setting. "Was feeling about ready to spontaniously combust over here."

Assigned to watch Tony. A couple of things on the side won't hurt. Just between these two.

Dom could just smirk.

"Help me infiltrate Stark Tower," she says in an arrow-level tone.

*

"No." Comes Evelyn's decisive and immediate response. "I know Stark's defenses and in addition to not wanting you in there to bring a firefight, you'd have a hell of a time getting in there anyways." She shakes her head a bit. Seriously?

"Do you have any ideas for projects that /don't/ involve just using me so you can get at stuff I'm charged for?" Eve says in a level tone.

*

"Nope," Dom easily replies to the synthetic while finally easing off of the accelerator. There's more than enough speed for her to coast halfway to New York state by now.

"This is the life, Ev. This is the job. No firefighting. It's non-violent, zero engagement, and perfectly geared toward what you can bring to the table. But, if you think you can do better securing a contract from someone else then be my guest." (And good freaking luck with your background, kiddo.)

"If you can't break the connection you have to your professional life or to your buddies then you've got no business trying to play a hand in this game. This is your one chance to change your mind."

*

"I'm sorry, then. I know better than to bite the hand that feeds." Ev replies calmly. She lifts the blanket back up and curls up back on the car seat. A shame. Domino could've had a chance for something greater with this girl, but if this is the last chance? She'll pass.

At least she has a better handle on how Domino operates. That's useful information for the future.

*

"Don't be sorry, you've just admitted that you've already got a good gig," Domino points out. "If you ever hit absolute rock bottom, then there might be something for you over here. Until then, you're still one of the good guys. Don't lose sight of that."

*

Evelyn's quiet a moment as she considers that. After a moment, she nods. "I hardly consider myself one of the 'good guys'. Is there really such a thing as good for us non-mutated superheros? It's a struggle for everyone. But I guess I can't say .. Well.. I like working for SHIELD, even if it's tough. If it weren't challenging it wouldn't be worth it, right?" Smiling a bit, Evelyn says sincerely, "Thanks, Domino."

*

"Well I don't consider you one of the bad guys," Domino offers with a thin smirk. "For what it's worth." It also seems like the right place for someone like Ev, going by what information she currently has on the girl's situation. Things might change, it happens often enough. Though they probably won't change before these two end up being at odds with one another yet again.

"Don't mention it," she says one more time.


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