starhuevalley | .1 caliber [Intro]

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.1 caliber [Intro]

[ACTION]

[She steps down from the bus and tugs at the strap around her shoulder tighter - she travels light, but there's something rather long, carefully wrapped, strapped between her bag and back. Squinting lightly at the warm summer sun, she sighs. Mixed feelings, all in one breath. This lady travels light except for the baggage in her mind.

Still, as she treads through the beaten paths towards an x in a map (excellent orientation skills, for one), she looks around carefully with what seems like a half smile in her piercing gaze. Yet, when she finds the place in the map, she keeps walking around, checking the Community center, the city, - greeting a couple of kids playing outside with a smile - walking through the beach... ending up finally at the Saloon around the evening, asking for a cup of tea at the counter.

Where do you meet her? ]

[VIDEO]

[That's exactly where she is when the video feed opens up. She's looking down at the screen, kohl rimmed eyes scrutinizing the device with a somewhat disappointed expression to them. She tsks.]

So unintuitive. How old is this?

[Dexterous fingers reach the screen and blip! goes the feed

Ring ring?]

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Five—! [She parrots with some incredulity. Then, yes, of course it made sense.

It’s not just farm life that is making Jack look young, or the lack of stress - she’s actually from a timeline where Jack is older.
She takes a soft, slow breath. A slow exhale - as if she’s preparing for a shot.]

Well, that you don’t think I’m over 50 is a compliment, I guess.

[She gives him a soft smile.] We have a lot to catch up on.

[Jack is, at times, fairly perceptive, though it's not hard to notice the way her expression changes, the tone of her voice, and the sigh she lets out. It's all familiar, but it points to something stranger, something he can't quite begin to comprehend, as he's never really had to deal with it before.

How can he reconcile being on a different point in the timeline wiht so many of the people he thought he knew?]

Are you--?

[He's not sure he should be asking that question, so he tries to play it off with an awkward laugh.]

If you're from the future, then I'm not sure I should know.

[At least his reaction was entirely familiar, even if here was a Jack that was much younger, still had the same vibrancy to him at five years after the Crisis, standing in a Saloon that would be only contextual if they had been to some sort of weird mission together.

There had been a mention to memories when she arrived, hadn't there? Out of everything, she didn't manage to quite understand that part.

In any case: ] I guess we can talk about it when we're all together. But yes, last time I saw you, there was some grey in your hair.

[An afterthought, and she brings up a lock of her own. Yes, quite a few greys to hers, too.

But on to more pressing matters.] Jesse called right away. He's been here longer.

Don't tell me that?

[What did he just say? Jack seems a little horrified, though it's difficult to tell whether he's concerned about the grey hair or the potential of ruining the timestream. All of this is a little bit beyond him, and he can't even wish Winston were here to explain it, because he has not, at this point, met Winston.

Jack tries to swallow it all down, but it's clear he's been flustered by this.]

Did you see him?

Alright, alright. [A small snort, and Ana lets the subject go. Any more teasing and Jack will thrum of worry into the stratosphere. She doesn't really blame him, though. It is a complicated matter.] It's good to see you, though.

[She raises the tablet on the table, gives it a shake.] Only through here. Has he been staying with you?

Yeah, it’s—it’s good to see you too.

[Jack reaches out to touch her shoulder, as if trying to determine whether or not she’s real. He’s all military formality, but his touch is gentle and it seems to put him at ease a little, even if he pulls his hand away quickly.

Talking about Jesse is, perhaps, easier. Jack nods.]

Helping us with the house. It’s in pretty bad shape.

[She turns her head just as his hand touches her shoulder and Ana’s lip curls for a moment The same way it made her presence there more believable, it also made Jack’s. And despite the fresh-faced, awkward look on his face, it helps, just a little.

She doesn’t blame him for making sure. It’s a good thing she mentioned Jesse, though. ] Do you need help?

Well, I thought that--

[Jack is clearly a little thrown off his game--he's now second-guessing what should be a confident question, but after a moment he seems sure of himself again. This is Ana, after all, and he can't imagine not having her by his side. That's what's important, not the gulf of time between them.]

I want you to stay with us.

And here I thought you liked me. [Ana's lip curls, looking at him with a subtle riptide of fondness. Jack's second-guess doesn't sit well with her, but she understands.

She starts tidying the things on her table, leaving a couple of coins for the tea and the snack she ate - she's still alive and full, and despite his awkwardness, Jack being there made everything a little better. She would have hated to leave him - all of them - behind.

So so far, so good.] You don't have to ask. I was given a house, though. Would do us good to see if there's anything we can use from there.

Someone's got to watch my back.

[Joking around, at least, has some degree of comforting familiarity, and Jack seems a little more at ease. When Ana starts to clean up, he stands.]

Yeah, that might not be a bad idea. A spare bed, maybe.

So much for my vacation.

[She stands up with a very fake sigh, waves the owner of the Saloon goodbye. He waves back amicably as she gets her bag.] Was thinking of a mattress. And I have a sleeping bag with me.

Shall we? [She starts to make for the door.]

I'll do my best not to get killed.

[He knows that keeping up with him his no easy task--that he throws himself into danger more often than not, and it's likely some of those gray hairs that Ana sports now are entirely because of him.

That said, the word vacation is a little foreign to him, at this point.]

Let me show you the house.

[Her smile tells him I know, but she still replies with a fond:] You better.

[She nods.] Lead the way. What have you been working on?

Edited 2018-08-10 09:49 (UTC)

Just cleaning it up, mostly.

[Jack holds the door for her as they leave, gesturing that they should make a right leaving the cafe.]

It was all in pretty bad shape.

How bad? [Ana steps quickly to walk by his side. The familiar pace of his legs was easy to follow - a lot less stiff than the last time she and Jack's overall presence almost warming up the side of her arm. It makes tension Ana didn't realize was there leave her shoulders.]

What should we work on next, then?

Like it hasn’t been lived in for a while.

[And farmland will, of course, fall into disrepair if it isn’t properly taken care of. He doesn’t need to tell her how suspicious he is to just be handed a house—she likely thinks the same things she does. Falling in step with her is comfortable in that way. Familiar. He already feels himself a little more at ease.]

Got the fields in better shape— [So they can make some money off them, of course.] —but if four of us are going to live in the house we’ll need to do some remodeling.

[Nature easily finds its way in somehow, she had learned quickly. It made sense that it would be the first thing to work on.

Four. So, Jack, Gabriel, Jesse and herself.] That's a lot of work to do. Can we afford the expansion?

I saw a fishing supplies store by the docks. [Drawing up the map from the tablet, she knocks softly on the location.] Maybe we can use that if it's not too expensive.

[Uops, falling into "planning mode". Habit. ]

I like to keep busy.

[She should know better than anybody that Jack tends to go a little crazy if he doesn't have anything to do, but of course she's the practical one. Jack nods, but it's clear he doesn't quite have a business plan, not just yet. They have to make the house livable, but to do that they need money, and it seems like farming is the main form of subsistence here.

Perhaps, with more hands, they can multitask a little better.]

We can see what we can trade, maybe.

I know. [Said with a sigh that is as equally fond as exasperated. She's already making a list of things to do. Get a list of competitors, see the price things are being sold at, brainstorm something that they can offer aside from just the produce, if everyone is going to be doing the same thing.

Sounds like fun, anyway.] I heard you scared a couple of townspeople already. Maybe we should work on our marketing a bit, hm?

[She can't help but tease him a little. Jack Morrison was many things, amongst them a good representative. But if there was anything that Ana knew he was good at but not keen on was doing things for the sake of PR.

Not that she blames him. ]

[Jack offers an apologetic shrug and a sheepish smile. He finds himself wondering how many of those gray hairs he gives her, over the years.]

Sorry. We were just trying to get the lay of the land.

[In that he didn’t know what was a threat and what wasn’t—he and Gabriel needed to make sure nothing nefarious was going on. If that means they don’t make friends, well. Jack will take it.]

[Some. Although many come from the state of affairs that was looming onto Overwatch before she ended up in the bus. But the others are the good kind of greys, she considered, those that come with the bittersweet care and concern for those she cared about, Fareeha, Jack, Gabriel and Jesse, along with many others. She had started covering them with henna at the beginning in a bout of sudden stubbornness that no, age and concern weren't something that happened to Ana Amari.

And then she stopped, and never retouched that henna again, when she realized that no, age and concern were something that didn't bother Ana Amari, instead.

Her eyes narrow in reassurance, and Ana gives a little chuckle.] It's okay. We'll work on it together.

What did you conclude from the lay of the land, then?

Edited 2018-08-22 10:04 (UTC)

[That provides Jack with more relief than he lets on--the simple use of together reminds him of all that he and Ana are able to accomplish when they work as a team. Add Gabriel to that equation and they're basically unstoppable. They'll figure this out. They always do.

Unfortunately, however, his investigation with Gabriel didn't yield much.]

There aren't many locals. Most of the people here came in on the bus, like us.

[To Jack, that doens't bode well, and he imagine Ana has similar thoughts.]

[It doesn't, and Ana is having similar thoughts. Gabriel had told her that, already, so she assumes that their recon mission wasn't very conclusive aside from that and a couple of other bits.

Not knowing what was happening around her was never one of her favorite things.]

So, some sort of relocation program that we weren't aware we applied to? [And... and this comes out as an afterthought more than an actual question. ] Why farms, out of everything?

Some people might call that kidnapping.

[That's what Jack would call it--brought somewhere against their will with no real knowledge. True, they have some measure of freedom, but not the freedom to get out of here. Maybe the buses will start running in the other direction, but he isn't going to bet on it.

He offers something of an exhausted shrug.]

At least it's something I know how to do.

[Maybe it's just a ploy to keep them distracted.]

It is. I don't know any word for it.

[And this is what has bothered Ana the most, since she walked through the town, overheard the people talk and scoured through the feed in the tablet she was given. People seemed to find this odd, for the first moment or two, but then... They seemed to settle. It was as if there was nothing besides this place that was worth meeting or going to. It rubbed Ana the wrong way and she frowns at the thought even if she doesn't really voice that newly found concern.

She sighs, the comment loosening the skin surrounding her brow. She knows she's not the only one carrying it, at least. ] Finally, the moment you have been waiting for to show off your farming skills, hm, Jack?

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