"A bit too much experience if you ask me...I also feel obliged to tell you that I'm technically not under your command. If you give me an order I disagree with, I will disobey it. Just so we're clear right now, instead of in the field."

Azrael turned to leave, then stopped.

"How's Kaitlin doing?"

"She's doing well. Thanks for asking."

there was a pause. Jason decided to go back to what else Azrael had said.

"And okay, as long as command friction and conflict of interest doesn't come in, I don't see any problems."

(OOC: have to get you out of his office, SS)

and with that, Azrael finished leaving.

Jason's PDAP beeped. It was a message from Wraith to get in contact with him as soon as possible.

He dialed in Wraith's number. His former XO answered. "Whaddya got for me, Wraith?" he asked.

(OOC: EDIT at batgirl's request) ***

Kaitlin was feeling a bit nauseous, she wasn't quite sure why.

Maybe i'm just not used to going right back into battle. she thought. Maybe some rest will do me good...

She made her way to her room and lay down in bed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

"Hey, Wolf," Wraith started, behind the wheel of the car. "You caught me on the way over to our next stop."

As Wraith looked up to the road, Wolf sat back a bit and gave his reply. "You said you needed to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I got a lead for you: his name was Sergei. Definitely mafia, we've had him under investigation for a few months."

"His name... 'was'?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah. Whoever it was he was talking about, they killed him so he wouldn't tell us any more."

"Wraith, you need to tell me a little more than "they", "was", and "mafia"," Wolf noted, pointing out Wraith's cryptic little responses.

"Sorry," Wraith started, eyes on the road. "He wouldn't tell me anything either... except that..."

"...Well?" Wolf implored when Wraith trailed off.

"Well, he said that it's definitely not Mastermind. And I believe him."

Wolf was now confused. "Well... oddly enough this is contradictory to a raid we just got back from, showing that militias were acting under Mastermind's orders as recently as a week ago."

Wraith thought about that a moment, one hand reaching up to stroke his beard. In the seat beside him, Devin took a moment to contemplate Wraith's contemplation, and contemplated a response of his own. "Do you think it's a ruse?"

"That's what I'd do," Shahdee added from the back seat. "We used to keep fake cells active to draw off the U.N. when I was with Mastermind."

Wraith nodded. "Hmmm... that's just what I was thinking. Or Sergei could be leading us on, too."

He shrugged then and put his other hand back on the wheel as they hit a turn. "Either way, it makes no difference. We should keep acting like he is, and go from there. That's the best way to go. I was actually about to hook up with another lead, Colonel... should we take care of it or head back to the States and let R.I.S.A. handle it?"

Jason chuckled at the use of his old rank. "It's General now, Wraith. But that aside, check out your lead, and after you're done with it, link up with us in the States."

"All right, General," Wraith answered, then grinned down at the comm monitor. "Sorry 'bout that lil' faux pas."

"No problem."

Wraith clicked the comm off and stared ahead again, silent. Devin looked over and almost said something, but decided it was unimportant and went back to watching the road. Just one more block, Wraith thought, and then they could head back home...

***

(( This presentation courtesy Zeph & Wolf. Any resemblance to any persons, places, or events -- real or imaginary -- is entirely circumstantial and I'll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs. ))

Ryan, worn out from the mission, took a quick shower before getting changed into some fresh clothes and collapsing on his bed. The mission had been a success, and he was drained because of it, but he couldn't sleep. Something really bugged him about what had happened.

The mission was simple, no excuses. But they'd still lost Rhiya to an injury. It wasn't really the fact that she was injured that bugged him, people got injured even in training sessions. The thing that bothered him was that it was kind of sudden. It had been fine up until then, and then a RPG just came out of nowhere.

Maybe it had been too long since he'd been on the field, but he felt kind of surprised. The surprise he'd felt a long time ago when his eye had gotten blown out...

Shuddering, Ryan tried to get away from that memory. It wasn't exactly something pleasant that was worth remembering. Getting up and putting on some shoes, he went to get something to eat hoping it woud help him settle down and get him to stop thinking about these things.

Kaitlin...Kaiiiiiitlin....I know you can hear me. Don't try and shut me out...I'm coming for you...You can't stop me. Soon...very soon...

OOC: Something's coming.

Razma laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. Besides the casaulty, the mission went quite well, but the casaulty did make a shaky start with the team. Though what also bothered him was that he knew nothing of this team. No dreams, no hopes, hell he barely remembered their names. He didn't know if there could be problems, but then again there always could be ones.

Razma didn't feel like thinking on that anymore, and got up and slipped into something and walked out. He wanted to do something to get his mind off of the fact he knew nothing of the other team members. Hell, maybe he would see a movie, or grab something to eat.

The world dropped away as the cargo droid dropped rapidly. Faster than was safe for a human. The droid slowed and moved quickly down an under ground tunnel. The tunnel was unlit save for green sconce every 500 meters. The droid stopped in front of a door at the end of the tunnel deep under the sea. The walls were rough hewn from stone and reinforced with steel braces. The doors were massive air locks. A drop of water splashed in a puddle at the base of the corridor. The security droid headed to the opening Airlock inside the triple air lock doors was a room of dorids. the droids were of all sorts. They are connected to various cords and appear to be sleeping.

"Our scans show you are clean. Welcome to the docking and recharge facility gamma. This will be your home and these droids your neighbors. Station 28-62-79 is yours. Go plug in I'm sure you could use a recharge."

Azrael washed himself up, and tossed on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

He walked over to the cafeteria, got a chicken sandwish, and went over to a table. As he did so, he saw a familiar face walk in.

It was Razma, though Azrael didn't know the name. "Hey! You're the guy from Seattle, aren't you?"

OOC: Sorry for controlling your character, Inbred. But time for character to character dialogue.

Walking into the cafeteria, Ryan absentmindedly got some food and started looking for somewhere to sit. He didn't really know any of the people here, and he would have to start finding new places to sit to get back into a routine. Looking for at least one familiar face, Ryan spotted Razma sitting at a far table and decided to sit there and start getting to know his team mate.

When he got there, however, he was already being questioned by an unfamiliar person. How the man knew Razma, he had no clue, but at least he could probably get to know someone else.

Quietly sitting down across from Razma, Ryan just started eating his lunch and watched what was going on. At the very least, he could find out who exactly it was that was coming up to his team mate like this.

"Azreal?" Razma said in shock. He remembered this man well, and immediatly took a seat. "So what are you here for? Last time I saw you was in Seattle." He asked him questioningly, for he must have had a reason to be here. As he was asking his question, he noticed Ryan sitting down and started eating.