Week 15 Friday: Returning from bounty hunting.

Darya strode back into SWA, grime up one leg of her trousers and muletech and KO rifle over her shoulder. Her face was cold and set, and she climbed up the stairs slowly and heavily, changing out of her mission clothes and chucking the dirty washing in the machine before sitting heavily down on the sofa. "Haven't done that for a while..." she muttered, looking around.

She was followed soon after by Ace, who didn't look anywhere near as messy. He was dressed in a green flight suit, which was basically a Drop Suit with tons of pockets, and was also carrying a Muletech. He disappeared into his room for a bit and reappeared in more casual clothes, which for him were military fatigues. He sat down on the sofa near, but not quite directly next to, Darya and stretched is arms and legs.

"That was fun. Brings back memories.. Team on the ground giving chase. Me and Sanchez in the air, chasing down the runners. Good times."

Darya reached up and massaged her forehead with one hand. "I wouldn't call it fun, but you and Han did pretty well. Was that your first time, or have you done it before?" she asked, leaning back.

"Bounty hunting? No. I gave it a try a few weeks ago when I first got the licence and Mr. Positron and I looked for a few bounties in France, but didn't find any. Nothing like this though. The guy I caught was a low level thug, not a gang leader and his cronies. It was good to be part of a close knit team again, bringing justice to the world. I've been missing that."

"Bringing justice to the world huh..." Said Darya, looking up at the ceiling. "Ace...you're probably a better person than I am about this..." she murmured, still staring up. "It's never been about that...at least, not for me..."

"Then what is it about? Fame? Money? Rank?

I appreciate the money, but I'll only spend it. I appreciate the rank but I'll only lose it. I appreciate the glory, but I don't want to be a celebrity Agent.

What we did today was get rid of some bad people from the world, people who prey on the weak and helpless. That makes the world a little bit better and brighter."

Ace turned to look at Darya and slid a little closer to her on the sofa.

"Helping people. Isn't that why you became an Agent?"

Darya sighed. "The reason I suggested going on this...was to attempt to make sure that Wei Xu, another agent in Oracle, didn't get ahead in rank of me, allowing him to bypass my privacy liscence. That's all...I needed rank. He's the kind of man who will dig out all he can, and I've got things I can't let him know about..."

She sighed. "I became a bounty hunter...became an agent...for one reason, at the time. Survival, for both me...and my sister. When I was younger...cult happened. Most of my family was killed, or worse.
Me and my sister were the only ones left, and I was the only one of us not comatose." She was crying now, still staring at the ceiling. "I needed money...so I started bounty hunting. I got found by a guy in Lanzas. Got picked up. Being an agent would get me more money, so I became one. I was still in the red each week due to paying the hospital to keep Sis alive...but at least it was only 50 credits each week."

Her shoulders shook slightly. "If I can help people as an agent, then I will, but I didn't become one to help the world...just one person..."

Ace hesitated for a moment, unsure, cautious. Then he took a deep breath, slid all the way over to Darya and put his arms around her.

"Shh now. It's ok. It's ok. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you Darya. I didn't realise that... It's ok.

Listen... back home there are two types of agent. Those who become one for the love of the Federation, it's people and the morals for which we stand and those who do it because of the fame. or the money. or the rank. They want big guns and big action. Sure, they say it's for the people, for the WF but it's not. It's for them. They get to live the dream and helping people comes always second. I hate them. But you, you have a reason. A good reason. You might not be helping the world, but you are helping one person. One person that you love. And that's enough. That's enough."

From his carboard box fort, Dusty watched Ace and Darya with one green eye glowing. Normally he was all over Darya the second she came home, but the conversation had seemed.. private. He gently poked DJ Scissorz, rolling the snake absentmindedly as the humans talked.

Dusty retreated back into his house, ready to give the couple alone time. Mom had expressed the need for privacy between adults... But at the familiar sound of his beloved aunt crying, Dusty scampered out of the box and clicked his way to Darya's leg. Ace was obviously doing a poor job. He rubbed his shell against her leg and clung to it with his tiny clawlike hands, giving Ace a look, white plastic eyelids narrowing for a second.

Darya joined in the hug with Ace with one hand, the other one reaching down and stroking Dusty's top. She remained like this for a minute or so, gently hiccuping, before pulling herself away and wiping her eyes. "It's...ok now. She's out of the coma, and she's getting better. Been to visit her last week. I need a drink..." she got up and began heading to the kitchen.

Ace watched her go and wondered if he was a bad person. He could get up, stay close to her, but he thought she just needed space at the moment so he sat and waited. Then he got up anyway and padded into the kitchen. Ace stood there for a moment, watching Darya pour a drink for herself and then went over to the fridge to get himself something sweet and porky. After a moment of silence he started:

"I think we should do that again. You, me and Han. We make a good team and I enjoyed watching you work. We have a diverse skill set and we worked well together. And the money and rank is worth it, especially if you want to keep ahead of Xu. What do you say we make a regular thing of it?"

Darya nodded slowly. "Yes, that is a possible idea..." She frowned. "Though the target I most want to hit is...likely too big for us three to handle. But yes, it is an idea."

She lent back on the counter, sipping her drink. "I'll be in Shanghai next week, trying to track down more cult activity, but some other time, certainly. That, and I think Han and I were thinking of tactical weapons training together..."

"Next week isn't good for me either, I'm going to be in space most of the week."

Ace took a sip of his drink and smiled at Darya, glad to see she was feeling less delicate now.

"I could do with some more tactical weapons training. Would you mind teaching me some time?"

Darya nodded. "Sure, if you want. I've never actually taught someone it before...well, apart from Dusty I suppose, and he usually just watches rather than me actually teaching him...but I'll give it a shot." She turned to the little turret. "Would you like some training too, Dusty?" She asked, eyes now twinkling slightly.

Dusty tended to follow in Darya's footsteps, being quiet and watching when she wasn't paying direct attention to him. Now he scampered around her feet, trying to find a good angle. There wasn't a ramp onto the counter, and his attempt to make a set of steps was hampered somewhat by having arms that did not move upwards. When his beloved aunt spoke his name, he immediately focused on the conversation. So much for trying to give them space. "Yes, Auntie Darya! I would like that. I want to play with that new injector rifle Pinkie is feeding. I feel I have grasped the basics of shotguns." The little turret's body bobbed in an eager nod. Sosie had taken some care to give Dusty experience with shotguns, normally by jury-rigging one into his torso and leaving him lopsided and less agile. She wasn't a great mom.

Dusty bumped into Darya's leg affectionately, not unlike Smallest winding around Bell's legs. "Which one is Han?"

Darya sighed slightly, and disappeared into her room with a "Just a moment", reemerging with the plank of wood she and Dusty used for a ramp onto her desk for him. Setting it up to allow him access to the counter, she poured herself another drink and took a sip. "Han is another agent in Oracle. You've been on some missions with him, though you might not have seen him that well. He's taller than me, and uses shotguns a lot...although I don't think they'd be that helpful for you...shotgun turrets are pretty rare. I'll help you practise laser rifles sometime soon, ok?" She asked, smiling, before looking up again. "Actually, Dusty, would you like to come to Shanghai with me this week? I'll be doing some investigative work, so it wouldn't be directly helpful, but it could be good for you to get out of the house. What do you say?"

Dusty scampered up the ramp quickly, tiny feet clicking loudly as he did so. "I'm not going to be a turret forever, Auntie Darya." He sounded slightly reproachful. He took a position on the counter; another white plastic appliance next to a bunch of other appliances. "Mom said when she gets the money, she'd going to build me a real body, like Bell has!"

Dusty danced excitedly on the counter as Darya talked. "Yes, I would love to go with you! I haven't been out in so long."

"You're going back to Shanghai? When you get back the three of us will have to do some training. Han and Ms. Salcedo are both trying to convince me to use larger guns in the field. Personally I think the Gunship is plenty large enough, but they won't hear it. It'll be nice to spend some more time with you, and with you too Dusty. What say we have a little competition after, see which of us is the better shot?"

"I'd...I'd like that." said Darya, making herself a drink, though a small part of her thought, with some pride, that she'd probably win any accuracy contest...at least on land. With tactical firearms. But still, she'd probably win.

"Do you have much experience with tactical weapons Ace?" She asked, looking over him. "I can teach you if you want...you too Dusty." she said, nodding to her nephew. "I'd like to teach you a trick I know for non-lethal take downs of agents." She pulled out her EMP rifle. "Although that might be a bit advanced for you for now..." she smiled and patted the top of his head. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it some day."