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Summary: Patches breaks into a building she shouldn't have with things ending quite differently than she was expecting.
Date: March 11, 2011
Log Title: Mission Impossible
Rating: PG-13
Westchester, NY
A facility which is a proving ground for many of Stark's military designs. The complex houses design offices, a large wind-tunnel and a warehouse.
It's late Friday night on a day where the weather was fairly clear and the heaters were not as active in the cities many buildings. As of now there was a security guard switch occurring at the Westchester facility of Stark Enterprises. This happened on a fairly normal schedule as there were a few key positions to be monitored around the clock. There was a lone guard at the main gate to the complex, two that cruised around from time to time in their golf carts, and at least four armed guards roaming the building where most of Stark's military products were housed. Of note is a fairly large wind-tunnel, some less than interesting offices where designing occurred and the warehouse itself.
Normal security checks happened at the gate which required identification. The main building which housed the warehouse however required more skill to break into and its security is tied directly to the dataspine. Unless you've got an id, and can pass the bio-scanner which takes an image of your hand print you've got to break in the old fashioned way. Through side doors that are less guarded and or barrel your way in. One should always be mindful of the security cameras, and various environmental sensors throughout the building as well.
Bypassing the guards? Not any great problem. Opening up the ventilation on the warehouse roof? Also pretty simple. The rat girl worms her way through ventilation ducts, crawling on her belly until she sees what she's looking for through a grill. There it is; the scanner that her 'friends' showed her a picture of. Nobody important would miss it, they explained; it was stolen, after all. Stolen from them. And they'd offer her the shelter nobody else would to a … creature like her, if she brought it. Waiting in the duct, Tabitha bites her bottom lip as she works up her courage; until finally, she pushes out the grating and dives head-first through the opening. By the time she reaches the ground she's the right way up and lands in a neat crouch. Everything going as planned; except for the fact that while she's sizing up the locked case, environmental sensors are already going off, unbeknownst to her setting off the alarm that she's present.
"No, Pietro. It's like I said earlier…" Tony sighs tossing his hands in defeat as he walks through his lab to pick up a random bit of electronics. "I'm working on something to modify my suit with. I had taken this particular feature out but find that it may be useful after all." Bit of scrap electronics sails through the air and lands in an open plastic bin of other bits and pieces. "Enough about that. We've got a party to go to this weekend and I'm hoping you're prepared for that." Before Tony can go into great detail about what he's planning for the X/Barnes prom his network alerts him to a break in over at the Westchester facility. "Dammit. I've got to go." Shirt is tugged off and golden armor begins to appear from head to waist. "Unless you wish to accompany me to one of my buildings that's been broken into." As Pietro ponders that Tony continues to armor up. Better safe than sorry!
Looking distinctly sour, Pietro decides not to reply about the modifications. Has arms folded over chest and watches pieces go flying into bins. Clearly trash, so he's not worried about it. "I've my costume, if that's what you mean. Fairly sure I can handle a party at a high school." The speedster smirks for that, but then grows serious. Especially as shirts are peeled off and armor forms. "Where?" Could use some action. "Race you." Okay, that was teasing, and a joke. If told the location, Pietro disappears. He'll meet Tony there, dressed in his dual toned blue costume. Very unlike the one he's planning to wear at the party. Appears at the gates, waiting for Iron Man. The slow poke.
Meanwhile, Tabitha is hard at work on the locked cabinet. The teddy-pouch strapped to her thigh is unzipped, and she reaches into it periodically to swap which lockpick, either proper or improvised, that she's using. Everything from locksmith tools to a hair pin and a phillips head screwdriver go into service; until at last she has the first lock undone. …The first of five, that is. "Assholes," she mutters, as she goes to work on the second one, after glancing over her shoulder to make sure the warehouse is as empty as she thinks it ought to be.
How very droll Pietro, race a speedster, Tony rolls his eyes heavenward. The location is given for the facility out in Westchester which is not all that far from the Xavier's school. It takes Tony a moment to pull the rest of his armor together then he's taken to the sky out from underneath the Stark Towers. The short flight gives him time to access the cameras throughout the building and to get a readout from the various sensors in place. The armed guards on site that were alerted to the break in have been told to observe only unless the infiltrator was about to make a break for it. One never knew what they were going to find these days in the form of a cat burglar. Jet powered feet come to land heavily on the opposite side of the gates to where Pietro is standing. With a wave of his hand the gates open allowing the Avenger to pass through at his leisure and the two head into the building. "There's no visual as of yet but there is something or someone in the main warehouse."
"Am I on the security?" Serious now that he's on site and walking through those gates. Not that they would have truly stopped him. "Anything I should be aware of to watch for?" Pietro and his questions. After that though, he's in motion. Speedsters aren't good at the whole standing still thing. Wanting to try something, he concentrates and shifts right through the outer wall of the warehouse, passing through cement and other stone, filler and steel. Searching out.
Tabitha has finished with the second and third locks by the time the warehouse starts to increase in population; most notably by someone passing straight through the wall. The rat girl gasps sharply, and slips her lockpicks back into their pouch. She zips it up, and her hand flies up to one of the holsters under her jacket, whisking out one of her glocks and sweeping it around the room; the nightvision she copied from a morlock earlier in the day serves her well at this junction, though as yet she sees nothing. Her breathing quickens, before she holsters the pistol once more and crouches behind the most convenient crate or support column, for something to hide behind.
"Are you on security? Hmm, good point. Not that you can't out run a taser or a stun baton." Tony laughs even though it doesn't translate well through the helm. "This particular facility houses military technology in particular. Scanners, sensors, various bits of weaponry and guidance systems. You know, don't go having a party basically." Then Pietro is gone right through a wall. "Show off," the man grumps then takes the more direct route of opening the front door. With Iron Man in the building the guards take to monitoring all of the exits available. "See anything interesting?" Iron Man asks as his booted feet are not all that stealthy. Tabitha can probably hear the clank coming down the hall ominously towards the main warehouse.
Pietro fades in near Tony, having moved back to near invisibility once inside. "There's a girl." Tells the armored figure. Gives location, general appearance, and that she's armed. Hey, he had all the time in the world to look Tabitha over. Especially when one moves so fast the eye can't process it. "She's not a very good thief, if that's what she is. Came in through the vent access." Sounds sour about it. Things should be done properly, damn it.
Tabitha's ears twitch; she can indeed hear the loud clanking footsteps coming down the hall. She hears them loud and clear, in fact. Her nose twitches, and she picks out someone's scent; She whirls around, whisking her glock out once more in her right hand as she backs up against a wall; just in time to see Pietro vanishing through the wall. She gasps, and gulps in a deep breath. "J-just go away!" she shouts. Her eyes look up at the vent, measuring the distance between herself and it; and then looking back at the door, which given how she's positioned herself, just happens to be between herself and said open vent. "I don't wanna hurt you," she adds, "So just… just stay away and I'll just leave!" She slinks backwards, looking for somewhere to hide again, as she listens to the ever approaching footsteps.
Given the description and the means of entry this is clearly not someone who was friends with Hydra or AIM or even one of the more powerful crime families about the city. Sounds to Tony like someone got sent on an errand that they weren't prepared for but for what? There's a few pieces of confiscated tech in that area so he's pulling that information up as he and his friend make their way towards the clearly nervous thief. "Doesn't sound like someone you or I normally deal with at all." Into the darkened room Tabitha will be able to see the glow from the helms eye sockets, and the RT at the center of the suit. The suit scanners pick out the poor girl quite easily. "Hate to burst your bubble kid but you can't really hurt me. Scratch up my paint job some, that's harsh. So why don't you toss the weapons aside and come on out here?"
In all actuality Pietro did go away. Not very far away, but to Iron Man. There were many things he could have tried, but he's opted to hang back and let Tony deal with this bit of trouble. From the looks of things he truly wasn't needed. "She appears frightened more than anything." Noted quietly from behind Iron Man, having allowed the armored figure to advance. Pietro and bullets don't mix well. Regardless of whether or not he can step out of the way.
Tabitha can currently see not only the glowing eye-sockets, but the entirity of Tony's armor; at least she can when she chances to peek step around a crate, and tries to make a break for the open vent; instead she ends up face to face with a man in a very impressive suit of metal. The rat girl's eyes go wide and she issues forth a long, high-pitched shriek. She takes a step back, and manages to back straight into the wall; as she feels her back come up against the concrete, she squeezes her fingers on reflex, and of course the gun goes off. For several seconds the stacatto report of rapid gunfire fills the warehouse; the muzzle flashes illuminate the room, and bullets ricochet off of Iron Man and into crates and walls to either side of him. Then, as the last shellcasing skitters across the floor and gunfire gives way to the soft 'click' of the slide locking open, Tabitha is left staring up at Tony, and probably looking in Pietro's general direction. …At least until she turns and bolts, making a break for
Bullets. Always with the bullets. Iron Man takes the barrage, and Pietro waits some seconds before moving. After that he shifts around the armored figure just as Tabitha is attempting to bolt. The guns are mostly useless now so he does something very simple.. he attempts to trip the girl. Certainly not really trying to hurt her, but he will also try and take her guns if he's able. Empty doesn't mean they can't be reloaded. "Looks like you get to redo your paint job." Said as he slows, to quip at Tony.
Always knows how to make an entrance in the dark doesn't he? Iron Man stands there as the gunfire goes off after the girls shock. At least if he stands still the bullets have a good chance of not flying back at the girl. "That wasn't particularly bright," Tony sighs. When would people learn that shooting at him in general would get them nowhere? Nothing nearby required immediate attention but several rather expensive nav-sat parts were totaled. Through the comm that Tabitha will not hear, "Just for that I'm taking your bonus this year to pay for it." Since he's playing the part of the big bad scary monster Iron Man comes towards them ready to polarize his armor if need be to attract the guns before she can open fire again and catch something more than wood and electronics.
The normally agile rat girl fails to notice Pietro's maneuver, and in her panic, goes sprawling on the ground. The firearm in her hand goes skittering across the ground and ends up going underneath a pallet, safely out of the way for now; her other one is still in the holster, and stays there. Tabitha doesn't face down in the dirt for long though; she rolls onto her back and swings her legs in the air, generating momentum and snapping herself back up to her feet. With Pietro nearby, she lashes out with her fists at the speedster; an assault born of fear, though there is skill and agility behind her motions. She sends three punches his way, before turning to face Tony once again; as she turns, she spins her hips and sweeps her foot upwards, bringing forth a kick that would leave any man rolling on the ground, clutching his groin; if he weren't Iron Man. Instead, Tabitha shrieks once more, and goes down hard on the ground. She crumples up in a ball and clutches at her ankle as she abruptly bursts into tears. "Please don't kill me," she whimpers.
There's an arched eyebrow at Tony as Pietro regards him. "I wasn't aware I got a bonus." The two are of course merely giving one another a hard time, regardless of the fact the girl is firing at them. No, Pietro isn't taking this terribly seriously, for all his grumpy expression may say otherwise. That expression shifts to amused shock as he gets himself out of the way of those fists. Really, really doesn't feel like swinging back at her so he removes himself from the equation. Goes to stand near the exit and grimaces as she tries to kick Iron Man. "Honestly." Exasperation. "Children these days." He was fighting the X-men at that age! He knew better than to kick a metal suit too!
Tony watches the girl fall abruptly then snap back up rather fluidly to wildly swing at Pietro. "What? You've never gotten the Christmas bonus? Probably because you're never around to pick it up!" No time like the present to pay attention again as the kick to his groin has him gazing down then at the girl who's landed firmly on her ass. "What've I done to deserve that?" Never mind the fact that she couldn't really kick him in the balls and probably has broken something in her foot for her troubles. "Do you even know what you're doing?" Doesn't think the poor kid knows what she's gotten into. "We're not about to kill you, kid. Have you ever seen an Avenger kill someone over a piece of gear they couldn't even steal? Speaking of, what are you doing in my building in the first place?" Taps his metal clad fingertips against a crate nearby as if he's bored. "I lack patience by the way. I'd start talking if I were you."
Tabitha looks up, and slowly pulls herself upright. She pulls herself up against a crate and leans her back against it as she draws her legs up and hugs them to her chest. She casts her gaze down and off to one side, as she blubbers and sobs openly for a minute. "I… I was just gonna take your… I dunno." She shrugs her shoulders heavily. "Your thingamajig. I don't know what it's called. But… But I'm not a thief! I swear I'm not. I just… these guys said that it was stolen from them, and that if I got it back for them they'd… like… be nice to me. And nobody's been niec to me for a long time and I just… I had to try I guess. Please don't hurt me or… or throw me in jail or anything. I'm sorry, I swear I'm sorry."
"Oh please. Direct deposit." The speedster counters. This is the information age! Which, you know, was pretty much heralded in by Stark. "It generally works better if you admit you won't kill them /after/ they give you the information you want." Pietro points out as Tony taps fingers on crate. Not that Tabitha seems to need much prodding to explain. Idly dismantling the gun he has, the speedster frowns at the girl. If it's a trick it's nicely done, but that doesn't mean he approaches the girl. Been burned too often for that. There's a look to Iron Man however and a thin lipped, serious look. "Mutant?" Asked of Tony, not the girl. Sounds rather normal for a mutant.
How do things like this keep happening to him? Tony's not exactly the best person to deal with a teenager let alone an upset one who's clearly gotten into something way over her head. There's a nod towards Pietro but not for the direct deposit. "Normally I'm inclined to agree with my counterpart but I don't think she needs any more scares this evening." Leaning against the crate behind him that is riddled with bullet holes that are still smoking Tony folds an arm so that he's propped casually there. "What's wrong with your generation? Someone's going to be nice to you so you agree to raid a Stark warehouse to steal something confiscated from a local gang that they shouldn't be in possession of? Dear, your not firing on all cylinders." Those metal fingers are still drumming against the crate where his arm rests. "I can't just let you go back to the streets armed as you are and already showing poor judgment."
Tabitha looks up sharply, and sets her jaw. "I was hungry, alright?" She looks back down, and curries her face in her hands. "I had to run away from home, and I can't remember the last time I've eaten properly. You might or might not have noticed, but I am a *freak*. You try walking into a five and dime just to ask for a corndog or a bag of chips or something and see how you like it when you get a shotgun stuffed in your face." She shifts to lean sideways against hte crate, and sniffles softly. "I was hungry and… and I wanted somewhere better to live than the worst appartment in the city, and I just… I need someone to look at me and not see a monster, okay?" She looks up at Pietro, and her eyes narrow even as she dabs at her cheeks. "Must be nice for you. At least you look normal."
Pietro lays the gun parts near Tony and finally approaches Tabitha. "Girl, you have no idea how little that really matters when you are being controlled by a super villain." Speaking of his past of course, but there's no anger to his tone. In fact he's ruefully amused. If she allows he knees down near her. "May I examine your ankle?" For that blow must have really hurt. "When I was your age a group of people tried to kill me old movie mob style for my white hair and power. Pitch forks and torches no less. I know what it means to be a freak." Allow and he carefully examines Tabitha's lower leg, getting a feel for the bone. "There are far better ways of seeking help than allowing someone to trick you into stealing. And for the record, child, you are no monster." Hopefully this doesn't backfire on him.
Tony is not quite sure if he should say a thing at this point. The other two have far more in common with each other which is a good thing in his book. All of things that he would say about seeking help, and various places that are mutant friendly would probably fall upon deaf ears. For now he remains aloof until there is a need for him to intervene.
Tabitha stretches her leg out, and lets Pietro have a look at it; of course her boots are done up tight, so he'll have to loosen those first. Underneath she definitely has a sprained ankle, but it isn't bad and should heal up well in a day or two. She sighs heavily, and lets her cheek rest against the crate. "Yes I am," she replies, in a dull tone of despair. "I used to be a perfectly normal girl, went to school, went camping with my Dad, had a job with a locksmith and… and just… just did girl stuff, okay? And then all of a sudden I don't even have my face anymore. I mean… just… just look at me." She shrugs her shoulders helplessly. "Here," she mutters. She pulls her other glock out of the holster and hits the button to eject the magazine. She pulls back the slide and removes the chambered round, before checking the weapon and holding it up, offering it towards Tony. "If you're not gonna give my guns back… like… could you at least keep them? Maybe I can have them back later?" She sighs, and presses her free hand against her forehead. "I'm so gonna get killed without them," she mutters.
A look back to Tony once he's examined the leg, boot removal and all. "A sprain if I'm any judge." Pietro has many years of judging such things too. Gets her boot back on to keep the swelling down as well. "Girl, I know it seems impossible right now, but that's hardly the case." Does totally take that gun though. "A true monster has an ugly heart and mind, and often the most beautiful of appearances. I hope you never learn that the hard way." That done, for he doesn't argue with a teen-ager about her face, the speedster looks back to Iron Man. "Suggestions on where? I don't mind housing her short term, but do you think the school near here might be a better option?" Leaves the talk of guns for later.
Since Pietro has made a good point to the young lady as well as taken possession of the offered gun Tony moves to attract the other one out from under where it slid earlier. Once he has it in hand the metal head shakes from side to side as the man sighs heavily. The sigh itself registers only in how the armored mans shoulders rise and fall. "I don't know how you came upon modified guns but someone your age shouldn't be walking around with them. No one should for the matter." Clearly has a distaste for weapons circulating around out of the hands of the military and police. "If you want to babysit her for a time there are options that can be considered. There is the school, there is a group that sees to children that have wound up homeless due to their mutation. There are options to keep this one from falling in with a bad crowd or worse." Pointing the handle of the gun towards Tabitha. "Since we're being civil now relatively speaking, I'm Iron Man…obviously. My white haired friend here is Quicksilver.”
Tabitha looks up at Pietro, then up at Tony, and then back down at her knees. "Patches," she mumbles. "My name is Patches." She brushes her hands over her face and through her hair, and then wipes her fingers at her cheeks. "My Dad had me around guns all the time, since I was a little girl. I *know* how to handle them. You just… you really just… scared the shit out of me, that's all. I don't… I mean I don't normally have accidents like that, that was embarrassing." The rat girl looks up, and swallows noisily. "I'm sorry I shot at you, and I'm sorry about your stuff. I dunno, I mean… I have six hundred bucks but… I'm sure that doesn't exactly cover all this. Maybe I could… I dunno… help you repaint your armor or… something…" she trails off, and her head droops; perhaps as she realizes just how ridiculous she sounds.
"Patches it is!" Tony hands over the other gun to Pietro for safe keeping. Clearly the guns will become an issue at some point but right now there were more important matters to deal with like getting Miss Patches over to where Quicksilver can keep an eye on her for a bit and to get her something to eat. There's also the little pesky matter of just who specifically sent her into this situation. He has a few ideas but would like to confirm before landing on their doorstep. There's a bit of a laugh for her offer to repaint his suit, "Sadly your artistic talents would not be of much help with my suit. I'll stick around to handle this mess. Patches, your job is to handle staying off your ankle and staying out of trouble." With that the speedster will offer to take her to a place where she can be safe and Tony will tend to dealing with the warehouse and his security team. No doubt there will be quite a few conversations with the young lady in the coming days.
