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Steve J and Noriko
Steve goes to Noriko about joining the junior team. They get to know each other a little, and make plans.
Steve had been hearing through the rumor mill about the various different groups forming. It was only a matter of time, he knew, after everyone had learned about that Canadian group. People wanted to use their powers to do more than just do party tricks. Steve did and these groups proved he wasn't alone. He hadn't been approached himself, so he wasn't sure what he wanted to do at first. Maybe, he'd thought, they believed he wasn't ready. So he waited. He trained with Philip and he worked more on his powers. Those remained the same, although every once in a while there was a sense that he should have known more somehow. That there was something missing like a word on the tip of your tongue.
Eventually, when he felt he was ready for something more than basic training, he found out from Cal who he needed to talk to. He'd find out what was needed to join the group and he'd do it Because this was what he wanted. It was like a trial, a test to see whether this was really what he wanted or whether he wanted to go back to his original plan of the ATF.
He caught her in the cafeteria during lunch, taking his food - not the typical cafeteria food - and stood next to her table. "May I join you?" he asked Noriko.
Noriko looked up from her food (a lot more food than you'd expect a skinny chick to eat) at the guy with a curious frown, then nodded. "Sure." She knew who he was - there were few enough kids that it was difficult not to know everybody - but they'd never really talked, so she had no idea what to expect.
Steve put his food down and settled into a seat, but turned his eyes back up to Noriko before starting to eat. "Rumor has it that you're building a team from the students. Something like the training groups, but...more." He wouldn't exactly say like the Canadian team, but something that might someday become like the Canadian team.
To be honest, Noriko had been relieved that nobody (so far) had come to talk to her about this. She swallowed her mouthful of burger, then nodded. "Yeah. The squads are more about 'just in case' we need these skills. The team's about going out there and doing some good - eventually." Really not just yet, though.
Steve nodded slowly. It was what he'd been expecting and it was nice to have some confirmation. Helping and not being some kind of pseudo-assault force. "And you're pulling people from the school and not from the people who graduated, right?"
"Scott's putting together a team with the over-eighteens," Noriko confirmed. There wasn't even any resentment left in her as she said so; it was what it was. "It's easier that way, for legal reasons. I wanted to make sure those of us that want to integrate it when they turn eighteen have gotten all the training they could, beforehand." And if he ever needed to call on them for whatever reasons, they would be ready, too, or as ready as they could be. If some of them didn't actually want to join up with Scott... well, of course they were welcome as well. It would be stupid to assume that only one (well, two, with Alpha Flight) such team would surface, and she wanted them all to be ready.
And that also made a lot of sense. Steve could almost see it now. The squads as they were run by the teachers would be what they were meant to be: simple powers training. These 'junior' and 'senior' teams Noriko and Scott were putting together were for people who needed to be more proactive than being simply students or alumni.
"How do I apply for a position in your team?" he asked.
Noriko paused, then answered, honestly, "I don't know." She put her hamburger down, temporarily, and wiped her gauntlets on a napkin, watching Steve. She wanted to be 100% focused on this. "We're also there in case Scott's team needs back-up - one or several of us. So we reached out to kids we thought could cut it. No offense, but I don't know anything about you." It didn't mean that he wouldn't cut it, just that she had no idea if he would.
Steve took a bite of his food as he thought about what she'd said and then he put down and spread his hands. "What do you want to know?"
Lots of stuff, really, but there was a basic question she'd asked everybody she'd talked to about the team. So it was a good place to start. "Why do you wanna join up?"
"I wanted to be a cop," Steve said and then added, "ATF. But over the last few months, I'm beginning to wonder if that's really where I can do the most good."
Noriko couldn't agree more, as she would've about any official agency. But this wasn't about her, and she had to wonder, "Why ATF?"
"My sister..." He hesitated and cleared his throat. "My sister was shot. If I can prevent other sisters from being hurt, I will."
Noriko took a beat to absorb that. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Keitaro, so she felt Steve there. "Sorry about your sister." But it didn't really answer her question. "But there are lots of way to help prevent that. Why the ATF?" Then, and now, apparently, their barely born teams - that was, of course, the second half of the question, and why she was asking the first as she resumed eating.
"They're the people who go after the guns," Steve replied. "No guns, no shootings, no sisters getting killed." It might have sounded idealistic, but he did know that he couldn't save everyone. He just wanted to stop some.
It was certainly simple, but sound enough logic, in a way Noriko couldn't agree with. "So why the change of heart?"
Steve pressed his lips together as he felt his shoulders tighten. "I found out about the girls getting kidnapped. It was before I got here, sure, but to think that we're that vulnerable? It's terrifying. And I don't want to just live in fear and anger anymore. I want to do something about it."
Yeah, okay. "Come to practice, then," Noriko agreed. He didn't seem to want to do it for any stupid reason. "I'll share the calendar with you. It gets updated a lot, so don't forget to check it regularly." Before he could thank her or anything stupid like that, she went on, "It's just practice. If you can't cut it, we'll know soon enough, especially after class starts. What we're doing is pretty intensive."
Steve smiled a bit wryly. "My power isn't really made for intense combat, so I've been practicing." He didn't say who with. From what little he could gather, it didn't seem as if Philip wanted the attention.
"On your own?" Noriko asked, because... well, there were several kids that helped others with combat lessons, since Puck couldn't be everywhere.
Steve shook his head. "I wouldn't be learning from my mistakes if it were on my own. Midnighter recommended someone."
"Philip?" she asked, since they were the first two names that had sprung to mind.
Steve lifted his chin in a nod. "And here I was trying to protect his privacy," he said with a small chuckle.
That was so many levels of ironic, but Noriko wasn't touching that with a ten foot pole. "He won't mind. He's going to be coaching us some, anyway."
He smiled a bit and nodded. "Okay. Well, thanks for the chance, at least." He glanced down and realized he'd barely eaten anything and started to it.
Noriko, for her part, had been going through her (fairly large) meal with her usual dedication. "Don't thank me. Thank yourself." He wanted to give it a go and she had no reason to distrust him, so what it came down to was that he had asked. "And anyway, part of it's combat training, yeah, but not all of it. What's your thing again?" She really should be taking notes or something when new kids showed up.
"Knowing when people are lying to my face," Steve said with a shrug. "Not really a combat kind of power."
"But a useful one for all sorts of other scenarios," Noriko replied, thinking it through. "Combat is never the preferred option. If a situation can be diffused instead of escalated..." And his mutation sounded like it could help with that.
"I have to see them. Look them in the eye," he said. "It doesn't work on Scott, for example. And Jack can block me." A pause. "When he's thinking about it."
"How come?" Noriko asked, because... well, was it a psi thing? Was it some other thing? It wasn't as if she really knew Jack, or what his mutation was exactly.
"My power's mental and he can block that. At least when he's paying attention." What had intrigued him was when Jack started dropping that protection when it came to him. And only him.
"He's got psi shielding," Noriko translated out loud. Good to know. And it reminded her that she should talk to Betsy about giving them all - the ones on the team - some shielding lessons. "Anyway. We've got our lot of combat-oriented mutations, and not enough psi. Yours could come in handy."
"Of some kind. I don't really know the theory. I tend to focus more on the practical applications." And there was only one practical application he had at the moment, although he was trying his best to fix that.
"Preaching to the choir," Noriko assured him. "But sometimes, starting with the theory helps you figure those out. Took me a while to figure that out, myself." She owed Claudia for her help, really.
"Well, I've been told it's more emotion than truly mental. But none of us has any idea why it only works when I'm looking directly in someone's eyes." Maybe it was just something he felt should be true and therefore it was.
"Has Simon had a look at you?" Noriko asked curiously. It would make sense to her that even psi mutations had a basis in physiology, but she had no idea whether she was right to assume so.
Steve shook his head. "You think that might make a difference?"
"Won't know until you try it," Noriko pointed out. "And it can't hurt."
"You have a point," he agreed. "Anyone else you might recommend?"
"Let's see what Simon makes of your mutation, first," Noriko advised as she switched to her dessert, plate now empty. If he did make something of it, depending on that something was, the next step might be obvious.
"So, practice with you whenever you send the schedule and a check in with Simon," Steve confirmed. "Sounds good."
"I'll share it with you as soon as I'm done eating," Noriko assured him. It was easy enough, with the Starkphones.
He nodded. "No rush." And then he settled to finish his own food. If he'd bothered to think about it, he would have realized something had changed. His life had shifted ever so subtly. As it was, he was more intent on lunch.
Steve had been hearing through the rumor mill about the various different groups forming. It was only a matter of time, he knew, after everyone had learned about that Canadian group. People wanted to use their powers to do more than just do party tricks. Steve did and these groups proved he wasn't alone. He hadn't been approached himself, so he wasn't sure what he wanted to do at first. Maybe, he'd thought, they believed he wasn't ready. So he waited. He trained with Philip and he worked more on his powers. Those remained the same, although every once in a while there was a sense that he should have known more somehow. That there was something missing like a word on the tip of your tongue.
Eventually, when he felt he was ready for something more than basic training, he found out from Cal who he needed to talk to. He'd find out what was needed to join the group and he'd do it Because this was what he wanted. It was like a trial, a test to see whether this was really what he wanted or whether he wanted to go back to his original plan of the ATF.
He caught her in the cafeteria during lunch, taking his food - not the typical cafeteria food - and stood next to her table. "May I join you?" he asked Noriko.
Noriko looked up from her food (a lot more food than you'd expect a skinny chick to eat) at the guy with a curious frown, then nodded. "Sure." She knew who he was - there were few enough kids that it was difficult not to know everybody - but they'd never really talked, so she had no idea what to expect.
Steve put his food down and settled into a seat, but turned his eyes back up to Noriko before starting to eat. "Rumor has it that you're building a team from the students. Something like the training groups, but...more." He wouldn't exactly say like the Canadian team, but something that might someday become like the Canadian team.
To be honest, Noriko had been relieved that nobody (so far) had come to talk to her about this. She swallowed her mouthful of burger, then nodded. "Yeah. The squads are more about 'just in case' we need these skills. The team's about going out there and doing some good - eventually." Really not just yet, though.
Steve nodded slowly. It was what he'd been expecting and it was nice to have some confirmation. Helping and not being some kind of pseudo-assault force. "And you're pulling people from the school and not from the people who graduated, right?"
"Scott's putting together a team with the over-eighteens," Noriko confirmed. There wasn't even any resentment left in her as she said so; it was what it was. "It's easier that way, for legal reasons. I wanted to make sure those of us that want to integrate it when they turn eighteen have gotten all the training they could, beforehand." And if he ever needed to call on them for whatever reasons, they would be ready, too, or as ready as they could be. If some of them didn't actually want to join up with Scott... well, of course they were welcome as well. It would be stupid to assume that only one (well, two, with Alpha Flight) such team would surface, and she wanted them all to be ready.
And that also made a lot of sense. Steve could almost see it now. The squads as they were run by the teachers would be what they were meant to be: simple powers training. These 'junior' and 'senior' teams Noriko and Scott were putting together were for people who needed to be more proactive than being simply students or alumni.
"How do I apply for a position in your team?" he asked.
Noriko paused, then answered, honestly, "I don't know." She put her hamburger down, temporarily, and wiped her gauntlets on a napkin, watching Steve. She wanted to be 100% focused on this. "We're also there in case Scott's team needs back-up - one or several of us. So we reached out to kids we thought could cut it. No offense, but I don't know anything about you." It didn't mean that he wouldn't cut it, just that she had no idea if he would.
Steve took a bite of his food as he thought about what she'd said and then he put down and spread his hands. "What do you want to know?"
Lots of stuff, really, but there was a basic question she'd asked everybody she'd talked to about the team. So it was a good place to start. "Why do you wanna join up?"
"I wanted to be a cop," Steve said and then added, "ATF. But over the last few months, I'm beginning to wonder if that's really where I can do the most good."
Noriko couldn't agree more, as she would've about any official agency. But this wasn't about her, and she had to wonder, "Why ATF?"
"My sister..." He hesitated and cleared his throat. "My sister was shot. If I can prevent other sisters from being hurt, I will."
Noriko took a beat to absorb that. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Keitaro, so she felt Steve there. "Sorry about your sister." But it didn't really answer her question. "But there are lots of way to help prevent that. Why the ATF?" Then, and now, apparently, their barely born teams - that was, of course, the second half of the question, and why she was asking the first as she resumed eating.
"They're the people who go after the guns," Steve replied. "No guns, no shootings, no sisters getting killed." It might have sounded idealistic, but he did know that he couldn't save everyone. He just wanted to stop some.
It was certainly simple, but sound enough logic, in a way Noriko couldn't agree with. "So why the change of heart?"
Steve pressed his lips together as he felt his shoulders tighten. "I found out about the girls getting kidnapped. It was before I got here, sure, but to think that we're that vulnerable? It's terrifying. And I don't want to just live in fear and anger anymore. I want to do something about it."
Yeah, okay. "Come to practice, then," Noriko agreed. He didn't seem to want to do it for any stupid reason. "I'll share the calendar with you. It gets updated a lot, so don't forget to check it regularly." Before he could thank her or anything stupid like that, she went on, "It's just practice. If you can't cut it, we'll know soon enough, especially after class starts. What we're doing is pretty intensive."
Steve smiled a bit wryly. "My power isn't really made for intense combat, so I've been practicing." He didn't say who with. From what little he could gather, it didn't seem as if Philip wanted the attention.
"On your own?" Noriko asked, because... well, there were several kids that helped others with combat lessons, since Puck couldn't be everywhere.
Steve shook his head. "I wouldn't be learning from my mistakes if it were on my own. Midnighter recommended someone."
"Philip?" she asked, since they were the first two names that had sprung to mind.
Steve lifted his chin in a nod. "And here I was trying to protect his privacy," he said with a small chuckle.
That was so many levels of ironic, but Noriko wasn't touching that with a ten foot pole. "He won't mind. He's going to be coaching us some, anyway."
He smiled a bit and nodded. "Okay. Well, thanks for the chance, at least." He glanced down and realized he'd barely eaten anything and started to it.
Noriko, for her part, had been going through her (fairly large) meal with her usual dedication. "Don't thank me. Thank yourself." He wanted to give it a go and she had no reason to distrust him, so what it came down to was that he had asked. "And anyway, part of it's combat training, yeah, but not all of it. What's your thing again?" She really should be taking notes or something when new kids showed up.
"Knowing when people are lying to my face," Steve said with a shrug. "Not really a combat kind of power."
"But a useful one for all sorts of other scenarios," Noriko replied, thinking it through. "Combat is never the preferred option. If a situation can be diffused instead of escalated..." And his mutation sounded like it could help with that.
"I have to see them. Look them in the eye," he said. "It doesn't work on Scott, for example. And Jack can block me." A pause. "When he's thinking about it."
"How come?" Noriko asked, because... well, was it a psi thing? Was it some other thing? It wasn't as if she really knew Jack, or what his mutation was exactly.
"My power's mental and he can block that. At least when he's paying attention." What had intrigued him was when Jack started dropping that protection when it came to him. And only him.
"He's got psi shielding," Noriko translated out loud. Good to know. And it reminded her that she should talk to Betsy about giving them all - the ones on the team - some shielding lessons. "Anyway. We've got our lot of combat-oriented mutations, and not enough psi. Yours could come in handy."
"Of some kind. I don't really know the theory. I tend to focus more on the practical applications." And there was only one practical application he had at the moment, although he was trying his best to fix that.
"Preaching to the choir," Noriko assured him. "But sometimes, starting with the theory helps you figure those out. Took me a while to figure that out, myself." She owed Claudia for her help, really.
"Well, I've been told it's more emotion than truly mental. But none of us has any idea why it only works when I'm looking directly in someone's eyes." Maybe it was just something he felt should be true and therefore it was.
"Has Simon had a look at you?" Noriko asked curiously. It would make sense to her that even psi mutations had a basis in physiology, but she had no idea whether she was right to assume so.
Steve shook his head. "You think that might make a difference?"
"Won't know until you try it," Noriko pointed out. "And it can't hurt."
"You have a point," he agreed. "Anyone else you might recommend?"
"Let's see what Simon makes of your mutation, first," Noriko advised as she switched to her dessert, plate now empty. If he did make something of it, depending on that something was, the next step might be obvious.
"So, practice with you whenever you send the schedule and a check in with Simon," Steve confirmed. "Sounds good."
"I'll share it with you as soon as I'm done eating," Noriko assured him. It was easy enough, with the Starkphones.
He nodded. "No rush." And then he settled to finish his own food. If he'd bothered to think about it, he would have realized something had changed. His life had shifted ever so subtly. As it was, he was more intent on lunch.