Out With the Old [modplot]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Everyone who signed up
What| The rescue of the NPC Legionnaires
Where| A movie studio in New New York
When| Takes place the same time as "Books of Magic"
Warnings/Notes| N/a

The studio where the Legionnaires are being held is swarming with supervillains. It's a trap, of course. But that doesn't mean they have to walk right into it. They have a plan, and now it's time to put it into action.

The Legion of Supervillains are expecting the non-native Legionnaires to be pushovers. They're about to discover just how crushingly, devastatingly wrong they are.

Comments

Re: Connecticut and Pillguy

[pillguy]

He'd been helping guard the hostages and keeping an eye on their survellaince when a very familiar set of armor popped up on the feeds. He immediately transferred his duties to someone else and made his way to the communications room in question to deal with this intruder himself.

He was grateful for the trek, as it gave him the time to compose hismelf. This wasn't some meeting of age-old rivals; sure, they'd been on opposite sides of a crisis before, but back then she'd seen sense - he's hopeful that she would again.

He doesn't make any moves to conceal his entrance, sliding the door open and then closed behind him as he would have done joining his team on the bridge of the Staff of Charon. He gives her a moment, taking a couple careful steps into the room. It might not be her. It could be similar armor. But with all the other Freelancers showing up, he'd be very surprised if it wasn't.

He takes his helmet off. His carefully trimmed mohawk has given up the ghost int he years following her death, the calculated optimism in his face tangled with lines of frustration and a deep seated anger, but his eyes still held the warmth for her, seeing her (god he hoped it was her). "Connie ... didn't expect to find you here."

Re: Connecticut and Pillguy

[short_changed]

Her motion trackers give her a few seconds of warning as someone approaches the door and she bites back a curse as she's forced to halt her efforts. When the door opens her magnum snaps up to point at the intruder- and her heart kicks in to double time at the sight of the armour. Up close she can see the resemblance to her own, as well as the modifications and general wear. When he reaches for his helmet she tenses in anticipation of a fight but once it's removed- the gun point drops and she stares in shocked silence for a moment.

"Robert? How- I looked for you. Have you been here this whole time?"

[pillguy]

It is her. For a moment he can't speak, letting the sound of her voice and the solidity of her standing there sink in for a moment and just be glad for it. Then, he takes two more careful steps towards her, reaching almost absently to the side to set his helmet on a console.

"Does it matter? We're here now, together, able to do the right thing this time."

[short_changed]

He's so different, he's got that same worn look to him that Wash does. God, how many years has it been for him? Connie holsters her gun as he steps forward, feeling almost numb as she tries to piece things together. He's got her armour, which means he made it away from Freelancer and survived long enough to outlive the Project itself when it went down, which is a huge relief. Still a little chilling if she thinks about it long enough though...especially with their current circumstances.

"I- I know. I'm trying to- Robert, these people don't deserve this," she gestures towards the screens still showing multiple camera views of both the audience members and the captured Legionnaires, "It's not justice, it's murder. You see that, right?"

[pillguy]

He closes the distance - slowly, carefully, in part because he knows she's always been a suspicious person, but he wants to savor this. He doesn't immediately reply, instead reaching up to her helmet and finger then latches free. He's intimately familiar with this armor now, having worn it himself for years.

"There are worse fates than death." His voice is quiet and careful, in part a commentary on her statement, and in part hard truth about the path he traveled without her. "God, Connie, I've missed you, so much."

[short_changed]

"That's no excuse for all this-"

She's on a time limit, they have less than an hour to complete their mission or else people will die but she can't bring herself to step away. She stiffens when he reaches for her helmet, her hands reaching up to cover his and hold them still a moment before following the tug to pull it up and off. She is as he remembers, taken at the last possible moment from the escape shuttle.

"I missed you too. I... I didn't know what to think when I saw you on the broadcast," she drops her gaze back to the computer she had been working on. There's so little time, God, it's not fair.

"I wish the circumstances were different."

[pillguy]

Helmet out of the way, he's cupping a hand against her cheek.

"But you know what to think, whether or not you've admitted it to yourself; you're on the wrong side." He says it with so much concern and compassion. He knows Connie wants to do the right thing, wants to bring evil to justice. He wants that too. Or, at least he did, until everything went to shit and he lost her, and his team, and everything he'd been fighting for.

"We've been through this before, Connie. You can't possibly believe these people are in it for anything other than their own glory?"

[short_changed]

For a moment she leans into the touch as a familiar ache wells up in her chest. She'd wanted to see him so much, they'd fought for so long to be together but not like this.

"No-" she shakes her head and takes his hand, drawing it down from her cheek but holding tight to his fingers, "They're trying to do the right thing just as much as we are. There doesn't have to be sides- there's still time to help, to do the right thing."

Her expression softens as she gives him an imploring look, "Please, Robert."

Action/LIVE BROADCAST

[pillguy]

He frowns, holding on tight to her hand. He had hoped she see sense, that she'd realize once again she was being suckered into fighting someone else's false war. But no, it appeared she was in too deep.

He continues to hold onto her hand, leaning his other on the console, perhaps to brace, perhaps accidentally (although certainly intentionally) shifting a control in charge of broadcasting internal orders throughout the studio. He would convince her to see the truth, and maybe he'd be able to convince others as well.

"There will always be sides, Connie. Wishing it weren't so isn't ever going to solve anything." He reaches up to brush her hair aside, "The trick is knowing which side is true and honest, and I can tell you it's never the one promising to minimize casualties. You and I both know you can't fight a war without losing people."

[short_changed]

He's the one in the deep end. She huffs a frustrated breath as he reaches for her again, this time tipping her head away as she leans back to get a little space. This wasn't the time or place for a reunion, as much as she wishes it could be...and it certainly isn't the reunion she had hoped for.

"So what, they deserve to die because they've screwed up a few times? No. I couldn't accept it in Freelancer and I won't accept it now."

[pillguy]

She leans away from him and he huffs in mild annoyance, but relents; letting go and crossing his arms. He looks at her with a disappointed expression, knowing how strong and fierce she can be when she's found her truth, and yet finding himself at a loss that she doesn't seem to see it in him, in this particular moment.

"They deserve to die because they will keep screwing up, and they won't stop until everyone is dead. Their little no killing clause means they pull their punches, they half-assed it, they're not really behind what they're preaching."

"Come on, Connie ... you're smarter than all that."

[short_changed]

"I don't buy that," she stares at him a moment more, hoping he could realize just how barbaric that whole philosophy was but he doesn't...and she doesn't have anymore time to lose.

A slow breath in is all it takes for her to bar up the horror and heartbreak of what Robert had become before her expression grows cold and closed. Looking away from him she reaches for her helmet as she turns to make her way back to the terminal she was working on before.

"I'm sorry Robert, but I'm not having this conversation."

If he tries to stop her, then she's out of here.