Danvers

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Bries face fell when Grace walked over, having admittedly forgotten about her. Listening to her speech, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, semi-impressed, when she mentioned the Yakuza. Brie obviously had experience with criminals herself, but clearly infiltrating them was a whole other ball game.

"I don't know..." She trailed off suspiciously, her green eyes flitting over Graces face. "There's already far too many people on this mission as it is..." She frowned as she tried to decide what to do. Damn Powers - why had he put her in charge!? It was irritating her to have to plan ahead when she preferred just to think on her feet. Brie could feel herself getting more restless by the minute. Letting out a deep sigh, she idly played with a napkin, unnecessarily folding and unfolding it as she mulled over the decision.

"Fine, whatever!" She eventually submitted, not bothering to consult with the others first. They could butt in if they disagreed with her. "But you stay with me and Tom, no wandering off by yourself. And if I catch even a whiff of ICOSA involvement, I'll hand you over to the Gugalianos myself." She couldn't deny that it would be useful to have her present, especially if Vinnie refused to bring them in as crew for hire, which she felt might happen.

"Actually, give me your phone for a second." Brie suddenly demanded as she held out her palm, gesturing for her to hand it over. She planned to give it back, she was just going to drain the battery first, so that Grace couldn't contact ICOSA even if she wanted to. "Just to be 100% certain y'know!" Smiling at her cheerily, Brie seemed instantly happier now that she no longer had any more decisions to make. "So, the Yazuka don't have powers!? I always thought they must do...interesting!" She continued on as if none of the subsequent conversation had happened.

@hitman @canaryrose @amethyst @kaijubaragon

《 H. E. R. O. 》

ah sorry

《 H. E. R. O. 》

After ordering an old cuban, Brianna had taken a seat in one of the few unoccupied booths, where she could see most of the room but also remain reasonably hidden. It was busier than she'd expected in here so it was going to be difficult to keep track of the others. She was lifting up her drink to take a sip when suddenly she felt a pair of hands clamp down on her shoulders. Startled, Brie only just managed to not spill her drink as she turned to see what asshole had come over to annoy her. "I'm not interes-..." She trailed off as she saw who it was, her eyes widening at the skinny, although significantly less raggedy than she remembered, guy. "Lucas!? What're you doing here? Didn't think that club 21 was your scene...always pegged you as more of a back alley bar type..."

"I should ask the same about you B-..." Before he could say her name, Brie had clamped her hand over his mouth, shaking her head at him. She didn't want her real name to be tossed around here of all places, especially if Guglianos men might be hanging around. Brie was considering what to say to him, when she abruptly moved her hand away, pulling a face of disgust. "Did you just lick my hand?" She frowned as she picked up a napkin. "You're so gross..."

Lucas just shrugged, a playful look in his dark eyes, seemingly unperturbed by her strange behaviour. "Anyway where you been B? Everyone's been lookin' for you! Thought you were dead or summin."

"Just laying low." She repeated the same lie as earlier. "Thought I'd keep out of Brookside for a few months, wait till things had settled down."

Lucas picked up his beer, slamming his free hand down on the table as he began to laugh. "What!? As if you left! Everyone knows the rest of Castleburg is just full of uptight assholes. I went to New Athens once and nearly got arrested for dropping a damn cigarette on the ground."

Smiling back, she shrugged her shoulders lightly. His expression was lighthearted and casual but she knew better than to trust any of her old friends in Brookside with the truth. "Eh, it's not that bad. And it's not exactly like I've been partying it up in Kingsdale." Taking another sip of her old cuban; it really was a great drink, she took a momentary glance around the room, trying to find the others. "So, you stolen anything good recently?" She grinned as she turned back to him. Lucas didn't have any superpowers but he could pretty much break into anything, and steal anything from anyone. It really was impressive.

"Oh, you gotta hear about this one!" Lucas began, a wide and infectious smile spreading across his face. "So this weird ass recluse in Watervale puts an alert out right...saying that he wants a shark. A goddamn shark B! Like one of those killer ones...the great white, that's it!" He took a sip from his beer, before continuing on eagerly. "And the only place I knew where to get a shark was the aquarium, obviously...so I damn well went and got him one didn't I! Nearly got an arm and a leg bit off for my effort, but he paid me a shitton, so I figured it was worth it!"

"But...how did you do it?" Brie questioned, looking extremely puzzled as she tried to figure it out. She'd never been able to guess how he'd done it either. Part of her wondered if he really did have a power but was just hiding it for some reason.

"Now, you know a good criminal never reveals his secrets!" He grinned as he looked around the room, his eyes focusing on the mens bathroom as a couple of others began to make their way through the door. "Anyway, I gotta go! I've already lost half of my money on this damn game but I'm hoping I can win it back..." Brie was about to open her mouth to question him about how he'd gotten into the poker game when she saw Patricia heading over, looking pretty pissed off.

"Sure, nice catching up with you!" She quickly replied as she walked back to the bar, taking a seat next to Tom. Listening to what Patricia said, she nodded slowly. It hadn't exactly been her plan... Brie had hoped that they'd be able to get some intel on what the Guglianos were up to during the poker game; from her experience drunk, gambling men were often quick to spill their guts. Shrugging her shoulders, she quickly finished off the rest of her drink.

"Well, just don't sleep with him. I'm sure he's had plenty of experience being rejected by women. And worst comes to worst, use your powers!" Placing her glass back down on the table, she tucked a 10 dollar bill under it. "I guess me and Tom can take the car closer to Watervale then, and wait till we hear from you. Although I do wonder why he would invite a random girl to one of their meetings...seems a bit odd." She muttered quietly as she smiled at the bartender, shaking her head to let him know that she didn't need the change. "Well...just be careful!" This whole thing set off alarm bells but Brie wasn't one to dwell on such thoughts and quickly pushed it aside. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

@canaryrose @amethyst @kaijubaragon

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Brie glanced at Patricia as they walked the short distance from the car to the 21 club, having to restrain herself from laughing as she took in her appearance. Maybe she'd gone a bit over the top when advising her on how to dress, but it had been funny and she hadn't been able to help herself. Besides, at least she no longer looked like she'd just stepped out of a high school classroom...

Brie herself had gone for something a bit more androgynous. It wasn't her usual style at all but she'd always been interested in it and figured why not. Her attire was simple, consisting of a fitted white shirt tucked into black straight-leg pants. She'd then added some black braces and heels to complete the look. Her long brunette hair was left loose over shoulders, whilst she'd done her makeup simply with winged eyeliner & a rouge lip.

Tucking her hands into her pockets as they strolled towards the others, she glanced around the half-empty street. She'd had to make do without a purse, so all she had on her was her burner phone, a decent amount of cash and a packet of cigarettes. It was lucky that Will wasn't on this mission because she was likely to smell like a chimney by the end of it. "I've heard of this place before. It's actually kinda fancy...by Brookside standards at least." Brie commented as she looked up at the speakeasy. Well, that's what it had been once at least. Now it was just a club that apparently had a weekly illegal poker game in one of the back rooms. She'd briefly wondered how the cops hadn't shut it down yet but then realised that there was probably a significant amount of gangster/mob money being pumped into keeping it open.

She tried to hide the twinge of annoyance she felt when she saw Grace, smiling cheerily at her instead. Brie had never really understood why other people were so scared of Brookside. It wasn't that bad and even though she no longer lived there, it would always kind of feel like home to her. "Nice to see you again. We're actually on a mission right now. So..." She trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Glancing around for a few moments to make sure that there was no-one eavesdropping, she turned to the others, ignoring the fact that Grace was likely still listening. "So my...contacts, told us that some of Guglianos lackies frequent this poker game. The only way to get into Vinnie's compound is with one of his men, so we need to find and latch onto one of them. Pattie, I'm thinking that you might be the best person to er...persuade them of this. Do whatever you need to but try to stay on their good side." She nodded at Patricia, having already figured this part out with her earlier.

"Now, if we can take the dealer out before the game starts then I was hoping that Tom would be able to step in as substitute. You can keep your ears out for any information that way, and distract them if things look like they're going south. Oh, and I hope you can shuffle cards..." Brie fiddled with the ends of her hair as she spoke. She'd only really come up with this plan in the car, so it likely had a lot of flaws in it but they really didn't have time to think of anything else. Being organised and methodical had never been her strong suit, so she was just winging this entire thing.

"The rest of us..." She said, with a brief glance at Grace. "-will try get in on the poker game. If not, we can just keep watch and alert the others if we're worried. I think that should cover everything..."

It was at this point that a couple of patrons stumbled out of the club, one nearly breaking her ankle as she stumbled into the road. "We should head in." Brie laughed under her breath as she watched the intoxicated couple. Pushing open the door, she was hit by a wall of music and laughter as they entered. A large bar curved round to their right, bottles of spirits of all kinds rammed onto shelves on the back wall, whilst several booths were already occupied with patrons, presumably there to provide some semblance of privacy. The place was dimly lit and the wallpaper was peeling off the walls in some places, but the atmosphere was undoubtedly lively. Brianna couldn't help but grin as she walked towards the bar. This place seemed like fun; she'd have to make a mental note to come back sometime.

@canaryrose @kaijubaragon @amethyst @hitman

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Stepping out of the car, Brie slammed the door shut behind her. Fumbling around for a few moments as she lit the cigarette she was holding, Brie felt herself relax when she took the first inhale. She tried not to smoke anymore but she felt agitated, and it had always helped calm her. Smiling at Patricia, Brie leant against the car bonnet as she looked around. They were in a large industrial area that seemed to mainly consist of various warehouses. It would have appeared to be abandoned if not for the loud music that was emitting from one of the buildings, a large metal shutter pulled half-open. "So...there's a small chance that they may try to kill us on sight." She said as she breathed out a puff of smoke, speaking as nonchalantly as if she were discussing the weather.

Patricia edged away from Brie as she lit the cigarette, getting out of the way from the fumes. Secondhand smoke was no joke- and bad for her voice. She tried not to look too uncomfortable, though, but it showed on her face. She frowned and almost held her nose but decided against it. That would be rude and probably suspect in Brookside, where smoking was common. Still, though…

At Brie’s comment, her eyes bulged out. “What?! You said they were your friends!” Patricia hissed, her anxiety growing tenfold. She glanced up at the building where the music was coming from. Was that where they were going? The music was so... shitty.

"They are...were. I'm not sure anymore to be honest!" She said, shrugging her shoulders. "We'll see anyway!" There was a reasonable chance that they'd found out how she'd betrayed them but there was also no-one better to get information from in Brookside, so she figured it was worth the risk.

"Sorry, Brookside brings out my bad habits." Noticing the look on Patricia's face, Brie dropped the cigarette butt on the floor, stomping it out with the heel of her sneaker. "Er, don't tell Will okay!" She added as she began to walk across the empty lot, bits of gravel kicking up underneath her as she went.

Patricia followed her nervously, sticking her hands in and out of her pockets. “I won’t, don’t worry,” she told her, glancing to and fro. The street looked abandoned, run down. There were windows rotting out, puddles of what looked like oil on the ground, and trash bags strewn about. There was no one to be seen on the street. She shivered. It was creepy, but she could swear someone was watching them.

“Do I… you know, look suspicious enough?” She gestured to her clothes. She had on a purple sweater, jeans, and brown boots, and her wavy brown hair was neatly combed into a messy bun- she didn’t exactly look like she belonged.

"You look very New Athens. Maybe just...take your hair down or something." Brie laughed as she quickly glanced at her outfit. "Shame, we should have gotten you a tattoo or something!" Her eyes lit up at this idea, resolving silently to try and persuade her to do this at another time.

“I’m not nearly rich enough to live in New Athens,” Patricia grumbled before taking her hair down. She tucked it behind her ears a few times and fiddled with it. She frowned at the tattoo suggestion but didn’t overall reject it- maybe in a year or so, when she was an adult? A musical note tattoo… oh, yeah, that would be pretty. The idea distracted her for a second before she snapped back to reality.

“So, what do you want me to do to these guys?”

Running her fingers through her hair, Brie pondered for a few moments, trying to decide what the was plan was. "I'll talk to them first, see what they're willing to tell us upfront. I doubt they'll spill much though, so that's where you come in." The pair had reached the warehouse, the music that was blasting loudly from inside now identifiable as some form of either rap or hip-hop. "I love this song!" Brie exclaimed distractedly before getting back to their actual discussion, "Oh, and you can make them forget you used your powers on them, right?"

Patricia looked briefly disgusted by the music blasting from the warehouse, cringing. Hip hop definitely wasn’t her favorite genre of music- she didn’t like the crass lyrics or the intrusive bass. Her eyebrow twitched.

Patricia started to look nervous again at Brie’s suggestion, fiddling with her hands. “N-not really. I mean, if I had more practice, maybe, but that’s some advanced mind fuckery. I only really do emotions and commands and stuff. It took me a lot of practice before I could make someone fall asleep without a command.”

"Oh..." Brie paused, her whole plan having been based around this idea. "It's fine! We'll just wing it then!"

Before Patricia could protest, Brie had raised a fist to the metal shutter, pounding on it loudly before ducking underneath. The music immediately shut off and as Brianna straightened up, she found that there was a Glock 19 pointed directly at her temple. Looking the boy up and down, for he was definitely only seventeen tops, she frowned at him in irritation. "Er...who are you?" She remarked, glancing around at the other dozen or so men (there was only one woman that she could see) who were sitting or standing about. The warehouse was surprisingly clean and organised on the inside, a large boxing ring taking up much of the back area, a mismatch of old tables & chairs dotted about, and a couple of doors that likely led to more rooms.

"W-who are you?" He retorted, stammering a little as he spoke. The kid clearly wasn't used to handling a gun, or at least not used to aiming it at someone's head.

Patricia froze, staring at the gun. Did Brie… not know these people? She shot a panicked glance to her friend, grabbing Brie’s elbow and inching her away from the gun.

“You first!”

The kid opened his mouth, about to say something when a deep voice suddenly cut through the tension in the room. "Fucking hell Gizmo! Stop waving that thing about. I ain't paying for your hospital bills." The man, who was around 6ft 4 in height and riddled with tattoos; nearly every part of his body besides his face were covered in them, strode to the small group as he noticed the commotion. "I swear, they're sending me more and more idiots every year." He grunted, having moved from his place at a small table covered in playing cards and cigarette ends. Gizmo hesitantly lowered the gun, quickly backing into a corner as the man made his way over.

"Lefty!" Brie's face lit up as she saw him, the towering man suddenly lifting her off the ground to pull her into a crushing hug. "You're gonna break my ribs!" She laughed, squirming as she tried to break free from his grip. He eventually put her back on solid ground, reaching one large hand to ruffle her hair. "Been a long time lil' B. Thought you were dead or summin." He leaned over to look at her more closely, at this point also noticing Patricia, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Who's this?"

Patricia stared, shocked as Brie was lifted up by the huge, tattooed man. ...Lefty? Was that even a name? Just a moment ago a boy had been waving a gun in their faces, and, now, this man was greeting her kindly. She gawked at the scene, not sure what to say or do. She had never really been around these kinds of people, and she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t get her killed.

She almost buckled under his skeptical stare, eyes widening. “O-oh, me? I’m, uh…” She swallowed. To use a fake name or not to use a fake name? “I’m a cowork- no, uh, a friend of Brie’s. We’re friends.”

"Yep, we're friends! But...she sometimes does a few shifts with me. Y'know, at Juno's bar?" Brie quickly added, only letting out the breath she was holding when Lefty dropped the fixed stare that he had been giving Patricia.

"Where you been?" Lefty questioned as he began to walk over to the back of the warehouse, Brie following behind him. "What're you doing!? Keep your eyes on him!" He suddenly shouted at one of the fighters in the boxing ring, a smaller man having taken a hard blow to the jaw.

Looking back at Patricia, Brie smiled at her gingerly, hoping that she wasn't too freaked out by all of this. "Oh...I've just been laying low. Trying to keep my nose out of trouble y'know..." She answered quickly as she watched the boxing match, although her real attention was still on the tall man next to her. She was pretty sure that he didn't know she worked for HERO One but then again, you could never really be sure what he was thinking.

Lefty just nodded in response, his eyes still following the two fighters, jaw twitching when they made a move that he didn't like. Eventually, he spoke again, turning to look at the pair of them. "So, what dya' want? I know you didn't come here just to catch up."

Patricia gaped at their surroundings, trying her best to keep her eyes inside of her head. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Brie had associated with- no, maybe even been- like these people before she worked at H.E.R.O. It was definitely a shock to her. Although her own upbringing hadn’t been perfect by any means, it hadn’t been like this. These people looked dangerous. She stared at the boxing match, intrigued for a second, before snapping back to their conversation at Lefty’s question.

Oh, boy. She guessed it was her turn. “We need information on the Gugliano crime family,” Patricia said, voice steely and firm. She stared him in the eyes, fully aware that she was dwarfed by him and pretending not to be bothered by it. “Movements, habits… whatever you can think of.”

At the mention of the Guglianos, Leftys whole body seemed to tense up. A detailed tattoo of a tiger that was inked onto his right forearm looking for a very brief moment like it was shifting in place. "Backroom. Now." He grunted, ignoring the curious looks of those around them. Striding towards one of the doors, he led them down a long hallway and into a room that appeared to be nothing more than a makeshift office. "Now, you're gonna have to explain to me very carefully why the hell you care about the Guglianos." Opening a draw in his desk, he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before offering one to them both.

Brie shook her head, thinking carefully about how she phrased her next sentence. "I've just heard things." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Like the fact that the Guglianos have been operating in Brookside. And that they've been undertaking activities that aren't...normal for them."

Patricia nodded along with Brie, shifting on her feet. For some reason, this guy made her nervous. She shook her head at the cigarette offer, too, forcing herself not to back away from the smoke. Still, though… she made a bit of a disgusted face. “We have business with them,” she supplied, hopefully affirming Brie’s statement. “We just need to know some things, and we hoped you might have the information we want.”

"You see, here's my problem..." Lefty was now leaning back in his chair, looking for all the world like he was having a polite conversation about the weather, whilst giving off a distinctly threatening aura. "If your business with them isn't through me, which I know it isn't, then it's with someone else. And I'm not stupid enough to give out information to someone else now, am I?"

"I just think it looks bad on you guys..." Brie ventured warily, "If the mafia is stepping into your territory. I know certain people wouldn’t like it..."

Leftys entire disposition changed as Brie spoke, the muscles in his jaw tightening in anger. "Now I like you and all lil' B, but if you're gonna threaten me..." He growled at the pair, suddenly rising up from his seat, tattoos flickering wildly. Brie shot a panicked look over at Patricia. This really was not going anything like she had planned. Not that she'd had a plan...but still.

Patricia stepped in front of the door, blocking him from leaving the room. They needed this information, and, well, if he wasn’t gonna give it to them... He was getting aggressive, and she didn’t know what else to do, so she gestured frantically at Brie to put her ear plugs in and started to sing. “La, la la la la laaaa...~ she sang, projecting her voice.

“Sit back down,” Patricia commanded Lefty. “Don’t move. Don’t use your power.”

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Lefty growled as he slowly sat back down, his body straining in a way that made it look like he was trying hard to resist her commands. "You'd better let me go little girl. It'll be bad for you if you don't."

Patricia’s gaze was steely. She stalked to the desk, leaning over it and planting her hands in his space. She shook her head slowly, frowning in a fake way. “I’m afraid not, Lefty. Don’t feel like it. Now, for the first question…” Patricia pretended to think for a moment, rubbing her chin. “Tell us everything you’ve heard about the Guglianos’ movements in the last, say… month or so. And tell the truth, now.”

"Why the hell would I tell-..." Lefty managed to get out before he could no longer resist. "Nothing that those...that those Goombahs aren't normally up to. Drugs, weapons, the usual shit..." He eventually relented, "They have been treading more in Brookside territory, though we're not really sure why. We've had a few scraps with them recently over it." His eyebrows furrowed at this, it clearly being a sore point for him.

Brie watched the two, nodding silently to herself as Lefty began to give them the information, it seeming genuine. She always found it difficult to watch someone under the influence of mind control but she supposed it was for the best.

Patricia made a ‘tsk’ noise. She would be lying if she didn’t enjoy this a little, although she did notice that it bothered Brie a little. But none of this was good information- it was stuff they already knew, nothing they could use. “Not good enough. Tell me if there’s anything abnormal going on, any tips you’ve heard about locations or deliveries or jobs that they’re going on. And then tell me what those tips, jobs, and locations are. Tell the truth.

"Well..." Lefty let out a loud barking laugh, "we heard about those missing heros. God I love when those HERO One pricks get what they deserve. But I don't know nothin' more about that. Vinnie Gugliano probably killed them outright I'm betting." He slammed a fist into the table, trying and failing to stand up. "All...all else I've heard is about a shipment coming in the day after tomorrow. Apparently it's for fish or summin. Thought it were a bit odd myself."

“The hero kidnappings!” Patricia momentarily broke out of interrogator mode to smile with glee, turning to Brie and giving her a thumbs-up. That was what they needed! His comment on ‘getting what they deserved’ made her blood boil for a moment, but she ignored it. The fish thing also sounded interesting, but… nonsensical. But he didn’t know anything about the hero kidnappings, so it was a dead end. “Tell me where the Guglianos like to hang out, outside of their compound.”

"Where they hang out? Well...they have that big fancy house in Watervale." He paused, "And there's a poker night at the 21 club, happens every week. Some of my guys have run into Vinnies underlyings there."

“Poker, huh?” Patricia thought for a moment, and then made a motion to Brie to show she was done. She took her hands from the desk, dusting them off. “Thank you, Lefty,” she said with a smooth smile. “You’ve been very helpful. Now, when we leave this building, you will not have your gang attack or prevent us from leaving. You will not prevent us from leaving or attack us yourself. You’ll let us go amicably with a smile on your face? Understand?” At his nod, she smiled. “Good. Then you’re free to get up, move, and use your powers. You’ll show us the way out now.” She gestured toward the door with an expectant smile on her face.

Brie stepped aside as Lefty stood up, trying to ignore the furious stare he was giving them. Sure he was a criminal but he had also been her friend once, and that was surely shot to hell now. As Patricia had commanded, Lefty led them back out through the back corridor, past the boxing ring and to the metal shutters where they'd entered. He ignored the shouts and stares that some of the other members gave them, though likely they would pay for that later. "There. Are we done now?" He glanced at Patricia, smiling before leaning his towering frame over Brianna to whisper in her ear, his voice sounding pleasant in spite of his words. "I'm sure we'll see you again. Very soon..."

Brie stepped away from him, already moving to dart under the shutters. "Sure. Bye Lefty!" She said, shooting him her best smile.

“Yes. We’re done now, you can go,” Patricia told him once they got outside of the building. She waved him off dismissively, instead turning to Brie and walking back to their car. She shivered. That had been… interesting. She glanced at her friend. She couldn’t believe that she had been friends with those types of people, once. It was certainly a shocking revelation for Patricia.

“That went well… Patricia started, glancing at Brie. “What do you think?

Brie nodded slowly as she opened the door to the car, clearly still a bit distracted. "Yeah, I think we got what we wanted..." She smiled lightly, "Let's just get out of here and then contact the others."

@canaryrose

Current Mood in One Gif

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Somehow, she'd spent far too long shopping for snacks and was now later than intended, although it was difficult to tell by the way Brianna was casually making her way down the quietly bustling New Athens street. Suddenly stopping to look up at a sign, Brie smiled to herself when she realised she had found the right place. "Great!" She said, ignoring a very disgruntled middle-aged man, who presumably worked in an office block by the look of his cheaply made suit, as he nearly walked straight into her. He aimed a stream of foul language in her direction but Brie still seemed too preoccupied to notice or care. Instead, she stepped into a small side street that mainly housed the back of several shops and a variety of dumpsters, crouching down on the pavement.

"This should be okay for you I think!" In her arms she held the ginger tomcat, who seemed altogether unconcerned that he had been carted halfway across the city by this girl. After setting him on the ground, Brie stood up, brushing her jeans down with a careless swipe of her hand. The cat looked at her for a few moments before he padded off to the open backdoor of a nearby bakery, seemingly having smelt something that he liked. As she watched the stray walk away, her phone buzzed, a text from Will flashing up on her screen. Glancing over the message, it was clear that he believed absolutely none of what she had said. "I spent a whole five minutes thinking that up too..." She frowned as she began to type a quick response.

no way. i'm a great liar ;) ill try! speak to you l8r xxx

Pressing send, Brie slid her phone into the back pocket of her jeans as she walked back to the apartment block, making her way up the stairs two at a time, too impatient to wait for the elevator.

"That was a lot of stairs!" She panted breathlessly as she finally reached the fifth floor, having arrived just as the others were making their way into the apartment. "Nice place Angie! Is it just you here?" Brie beamed happily as she followed them in, strolling over to the sandwiches and soda which had been set out, her interest in them rapidly decreasing when she saw what was inside. "Wow, so healthy...." Setting down her bag, she began to pull out a variety of snacks, including a half-eaten packet of popcorn and a bag of Doritos, placing them alongside their more healthy counterparts.

"Anyway, we'd better get started I guess." She said as she walked over to what seemed to be the living room area, taking a seat on the ottoman and waiting for the others to join her before continuing. "Right!" After a few moments of making herself comfy, she smiled at them as she reached into her rucksack and pulled out the manila folder, opening it out in front of her so that they could see its contents. She'd added a few notes here and there in her messy handwriting, although most of it was probably illegible to anyone but Brie.

"So, and don't ask me why," She emphasised, knowing that they would likely be as surprised as she had been. "But Powers asked me to head up a mission to help find these guys..." She pointed to two pictures, presumably taken on their first day at HERO One, of the missing heroes. Brianna seemed to have either forgotten or be ignoring the fact that she'd invited them here to discuss party planning and continued on regardless of this.

"They went missing in lower Brookside and Powers is pretty sure that it's the Guglianos who are behind it." Again she gestured to some of the paperwork that gave further information on Vinnie and his cohorts. "They usually operate in Watervale so I'm not entirely sure why they've been stepping into Brookside territory but...anyway, he wants us to find out whats happened to them, and what that asshole Vinnie is up to."

Looking up at them, she waiting to see if they had any questions before continuing. "Also, ICOSA can't know about this because they're...well, they're dicks. So no blabbing to anyone." Brie let out a breath as she finished, seeming glad that she had gotten that over with. Shooting them a grin, she reached down for the popcorn again, "So, all we've got to do now is plan this thing!"

A tedious amount of time later...

"Alright. So just to go over it once more..." Brie was now sat cross-legged on the floor, sipping on some zero-calorie soda and looking like she was bored out of her mind. "Me and Patty will go speak to my contacts in Brookside and try to get some more information on the Guglianos & their movements. Tom and Angelica - you guys will go scope out Bateman Turnpike where Thundering Whisper..." She paused to laugh for a moment, nearly choking on her soda. "Sorry, I just find that name funny for some reason! Anyway, where Thundering Whisper went missing, and see if there are any clues about why or where they might have taken him. Just be careful though, the turnpikes okay but I still wouldn't hang about there longer than necessary."

Gathering up the documents and photographs that were now strewn across Angelicas coffee table, she roughly put them back inside the folder. As she stood up from her seat, she stretched her arms above her head in a movement that eased her now stiff muscles, happy that they had gotten the tedious planning out of the way. "Oh, I got us these as well!" Leaning over to her bag, she pulled out four rather cheap-looking phones, tossing one to each of them. "I'll send Powers the bill for them later."

@Infinite Cosmos @KaijuBaragon @canaryrose @Amethyst

Current Mood in One Gif

Word association Game!

Bullseye

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Brie had to steady herself as she nearly crashed into Will, taking a couple of steps back from him. "Thanks, though you really didn't have to wait for me!" She smiled faintly, taking to kicking at a scuff on the carpet with the edge of her shoe. Normally she didn't mind twisting the truth when the circumstances called for it. However, when it came to Will, she had always found it difficult to lie to him. It was probably because he didn't seem to have a manipulative bone in his body; the guy was always behaving like a damn boy scout.

Brie sighed as she held the manila folder out in front of her. "He just wanted to give me this. Not sure why he didn't give it to me earlier but y'know what Powers can be like!" She said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. "Probably thought it'd be fun to mess with me or something." To be honest, she wouldn't put it past him to have pulled her up in front of everyone for that exact reason.

"I'd asked if HERO were able to get some information on my parents. Thought I might as well find out what happened to them." Brie continued, her gaze landing anywhere that wasn't Will. She felt bad outwardly lying to them but she didn't want to tell anyone until she had at least read through the file, and besides, discussing it in the middle of HERO One with ICOSA agents around also seemed like a pretty stupid idea. She paused for a moment, holding the folder close to her again.

"Well...I need to shower and read through this thing. So, I'll see you guys later!" She chirped suddenly. Before they could answer, Brie had darted off to one of the now-empty elevators, jamming her finger down onto the button for the second floor. Leaning against the wall of the elevator, she chewed idly on her bottom lip, wondering how the hell she was going to pull this all off. It only took a few seconds to reach her floor and as she walked down the hallway, Brie dug into her pocket for her keycard, swiping it distractedly over the lock and pushing the door open into her somewhat chaotic & messy room.

A short while later, Brie was sat cross-legged at her desk, freshly showered with her hair tied up in a messy bun. She had a pen in her mouth and was frowning down at the now open folder. The fact that she'd actually read through the entire file twice was a miracle in itself, her attention span not normally lasting for longer than a few pages of a magazine. She groaned as she stretched her arms above her head, leaning her chair precariously on its back legs. She was still trying to get her head around the Guglianos operation but it just wasn't all adding up. Most of their operations made sense to her but she still couldn't understand why they were kidnapping heroes. Or at least, why they weren't kidnapping heroes and immediately calling HERO to demand a ransom (or something equally predictable). It didn't make sense when drug or gun trafficking was such an easy source of money for them...

"Jesus, if Powers has to read through stuff like this all day, no wonder he's so grouchy!" She finally exclaimed to herself as she dropped the pen she'd been holding and jumped to her feet. A wiry ginger tomcat had been twisting its way around the legs of her chair and she bent down to give it a good scratching behind the ears, "Sorry buddy, gonna have to kick you out - one day only!" The creature simply gave a content purr in response, oblivious to his status as an illegal resident at HERO One. Picking him up, Brie sat down on her bed, placing the cat beside her as she begun to type a quick message into her phone.

Hi Guys! Thinking about throwing a party at HERO One whilst Powers is away.
Want it to be a big one though, so need your help!
Lets meet at Angies ASAP. Don't want Chrissie accidentally overhearing! Bring snacks xx

She gave the message a quick read over before sending it over to Patricia, Angelica and Tom. Flopping back onto to her bed, she wondered whether she was taking this whole covert thing too seriously. But then again, ICOSA were definitely creepy enough to have hacked into her phone.

Speaking of, at least if she was going to be spending significant amounts of time in Brookside, she'd hopefully be able to escape whoever these supervisors were. Good luck to them. She mused sarcastically to herself as she tugged on a pair of jeans and a cropped white t-shirt. Grabbing a rucksack, she stuffed the folder into it and then unceremoniously picked up the now sleeping tomcat. "Time to go pal!"

@Infinite Cosmos @KaijuBaragon @canaryrose @Amethyst