[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NNlUntx.png[/img]

[sub][color=ff5f0f][b]The Sentinel[/b][/color]

[color=slategray]Location: A Coalition Conference Room
Interacting with: Agent Hauser, the Team[/color][/sub]
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[indent][indent]This was absolutely absurd.

For the past two years, all they had done was help their community. They’d stopped bank robberies, murders, kidnappings, helped solve crimes, and ended murder sprees. For the past two years they’d had an impeccable track record. Zero failures, zero incidents. Very little property damage, never a civilian injured by their hand. By all rights, the Coalition had removed the need for the police department as anything other than filling out paperwork.

And yet, here the Sentinel stood, talking to a [i]government[/i] agent who had been sent to be their ‘advisor.’ Nathaniel hardly even knew what that meant, at least in this context. He’d agreed to speak with the man, privately after they’d walked into the Watchtower and he’d been sitting there. Following a few phone calls, Nathaniel had verified that the man was real, that EPIC was real. He was sure that this was all [i]very[/i] real. Even so, just because it was real, though, didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. 

He didn’t like the idea of being ran by someone who wasn’t a direct member of their organization, and wasn’t sure how he felt about being watched. Because, that’s what was happening. They were going to be monitored, and supervised; the worst part was, they didn’t really have a choice. There were a few perks though, even Nathaniel had to admit that.

[color=4d73d6][b]“I’m here to help you, really. From here on out, you’re going to have a team of EPIC Agents who will help with your public image. That means no more, or at least a lot fewer, press conferences for you. Aside from that, we’re going to do our best to help make it so the town likes you again —”[/b][/color]

[color=ff5f0f][b]“What about the girl? Julia.”[/b][/color] Though he appreciated it, Nathaniel didn’t much care about how many or how few press conferences he’d have to put on. They were shows for the press, sometimes necessary, but often just circuses he attended in hopes that it would get people to like them. As it stood now, it seemed that had all been for naught. It only took one mistake, one failure… that was all it took to leave an ugly, bloody [i]wound[/i] on the otherwise mythical Coalition.

The girl, however, she was a new player in the situation. A wild card, one Nate barely had information about, but still. He felt obligated to do what he could for her, after all… the note she’d had (in a Coalition branded lunchbox, mind you) had begged him to take her in. The note wanted him — wanted [i]them[/i] — to take her in, and he had no intention of denying the request of what he could only assume was the girl’s dead parents.

[color=4d73d6][b]“What girl? The one from the plane? Well, we can have her put in a foster home —”[/b][/color] Agent Hauser began to speak, before Nathaniel shook his head, and the Agent shifted his weight and folded his arms over his chest. [color=4d73d6][b]“What, are [i]you[/i] gonna take care of her?”[/b][/color] The other man nodded, and the Agent sighed. [color=4d73d6][b]“Okay. Let me put in some calls, we can go through the proper channels and have her become a U.S. Citizen. Her name is Julia Rhodes, right? I’ll have her placed under your care…”[/b][/color] The Agent had pulled a device out of his pockets and was typing on it.

[color=ff5f0f][b]“Mine and Serenity’s. Barrage; she’s my fiance.”[/b][/color]

[color=4d73d6][b]“Right… And, for schooling? She [i]will[/i] need schooling, you know.”[/b][/color]

[color=ff5f0f][b]“Austin will teach her, he’s smart enough. Don’t worry about her, worry about us and your job. Your part of the deal has to include that.”[/b][/color]

[color=4d73d6][b]“Okay, okay. I can get it done. On the discussion of my job... We need to know more about you, if we’re going to help you defeat… whoever it was that put us in this mess. Now, I already know [i]you’ll[/i] let us help you. But what about the others? Are they going to let us run tests on them?”[/b][/color] The Agent asked, and Nathaniel shook his head,

[color=ff5f0f][b]“I doubt that [i]very[/i] strongly. But I’ll talk to them tomorrow morning. You know, you’re lucky none of them have super hearing, or this wouldn’t be a very private meeting… Are we done here?”[/b][/color] Nathaniel asked, and after a confirming nod from Hauser, Nathaniel turned to the door and opened it up to the team who had gathered in the waiting room outside of the conference and debriefing area he’d been speaking to Hauser in. [color=ff5f0f][b]“Alright, team. Agent Hauser and his people, who will be arriving over the next few days, will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Their goal here is the same as ours: the capture and defeat of whoever or [i]what[/i]ever killed the Mayor and kicked our asses. Now, I don’t like it anymore than you guys — being watched and monitored by the government? Not very high on my bucket list. But, the way I see it, we can use all the help we can get; so, I intend for us to work with them as best we can.”[/b][/color]

He looked over the team, confident that they would respect his wishes, if not the wishes of the United States government. [color=ff5f0f][b]“For now? You’re all dismissed. Get some sleep, a lot of it, and breakfast too. We’re going to meet at twelve hundred hours tomorrow — instead of our normal meeting time of oh nine hundred hours — in the conference room, and talk about what our next moves are going to be, and give you the full details on the deal here. I’d wager that Agent Hauser is going to be sitting in on that meeting. Don’t let that stop you from bad mouthing him. I’ll see you tomorrow.”[/b][/color]

With that, their leader walked away and toward the elevator.[/indent][/indent]