Philip and Noriko - Backdated
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om_mainPhilip and Noriko try and find out whether Callisto's still around. In vain.
The weather had begun to chill just enough that a couple of young kids in hoodies wouldn't exactly raise any eyebrows in this part of town, which was for the better. Noriko's old backpack carrying her gauntlets was slung deceptively casually on her shoulder, and she'd pulled the hood over her distinctive blue hair. No reason to broadcast her presence, in case Callisto had kids looking out for her - or worse.
"You think we should risk stopping by the squat?" she asked Philip as they walked away from the car they'd borrowed at Xavier's.
Philip was even more nondescript in jeans and a worn out NYU hooded sweatshirt with matching, ever so carefully shaped ball cap tilted low over his eyes. He was the picture of college student white guy, utterly generic. "Not sure," he said. "I haven't heard any alerts with the area or from the police. We can swing by and see if there are any gawkers?"
"Sounds like a plan," Noriko confirmed, before they turned into the next street with that destination in mind. She wasn't exactly looking forward to being there again, but like hell she was going to let that stop her.
Philip couldn't help but to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he walked. She seemed like she was alright but they hadn't exactly talked about what happened. He was fine, or at least fine enough, but he'd had years of preparation for life going to hell, or at least a collection of coping strategies for it. "Nothing at all to see here, right? Just a boring couple of kids."
Noriko's lips twisted into a ghost of a wry smile, and she shot him a glance. "So boring," she quietly, dryly agreed.
"Just seeing the sights, slumming it in New York," he agreed as he casually stuffed his hands in the hoodie pocket. It was a useful piece of clothing, as baggy as it was. There were all kinds of space to hide things in there.
Was that the way he did it? Put himself in the skin of whoever he wanted to come off as? It seemed entirely more elaborate than the keep-your-head-down instincts Noriko had developed, so - probably. Also not the kind of question she wanted to ask him on the street. But it did make her realize that she was walking a little too quickly for somebody just slumming it, and she slowed down her pace. "And we're gonna go see Ground Zero next?"
"I guess," Philip said, making no effort to modulate his voice at all. "It'll depend on the people, you know me, babe, crowds are boring. Maybe something cool will happen out here."
Babe. It was difficult not to let her amusement show, but Noriko had had a lot of practice at remaining poker faced over her couple years on the streets. She just shot him a look, tilting her head slightly. "I won't hold my breath." Aiming for teenage despondency and hitting it square on.
The smallest smile tilted at the corner of his mouth. Philip would have never called her that if he wasn't playing a role and thankfully, Noriko seemed to know it. What he should have done then was sling an arm over her shoulder, but he didn't want his hands tied up or her movement compromised. "Never know, city that never sleeps, they say that, right?"
"I hope that's your way of saying you're gonna keep me up all night," Noriko pointed out in the same blasé tone as before. Hey, two could play that game.
"You've got no idea of the things we're gonna do," Philip drawled, ignoring the looks from the passerby or two who overheard them. That it was eyerolls and frowns was good, that meant they were being convincing.
Noriko let a small smile play on her lips, watching the reactions of the people around them but seemingly not giving a shit. Just like drama class, except they weren't on stage for this bit of improv. "Feeling creative, huh?"
"I've got to keep you guessing," he said with a grin. "I don't want you to get tired of me."
"Guessing," Noriko echoed, glancing at him, her small smile turned daring. "That's one word for it."
"So which way, do you think?" Philip asked. She was more the one with the agenda, he was there to help make sure things were going to stay okay.
"Wanna try and get lost?" she offered, before leading the way to a side street. There was another squat not far; she wanted to check in with them, and ask if they'd seen Callisto lately.
"Lead the way," Philip said with a grin.
* * *
Noriko walked back into the room where Callisto had been, after checking the ones surrounding it, heading for the stairs to call out to Philip, who was checking another floor. "Nothing here! You?"
"Nothing," Philip called back. He'd checked for hidden mikes first, of course, ditto cameras and had found nothing, unless there was something far more sophisticated than he knew to look for. There was no sign of anything, no struggle, no discarded ammo, nothing.
Noriko walked over to the busted window. It was still busted, but there was no trace of blood anywhere. No trace of anyone having lived here, either. She walked over to where the cop poster had hung and found the nicks in the wall from Callisto's knife throwing, feeling irrationally grateful that they - whoever they were - hadn't been able to erase her out of the world completely.
And it still didn't tell her shit about where she might be. She headed back out to the stairs, forcing herself not to look out the window at the place where Philip had met the pavement.
"This is a bust," Philip said as he met her. "If a team actually did come in here, they swept their presence completely clean."
"There's barely any sign that it's been lived in recently," Noriko added. Apart from how the place was a little too clean, and the odd structural damage they hadn't been able to do anything about. Yeah, a team actually did come in here, that was pretty clear.
"That's pretty standard for a good cleaner team," Philip said absently, still looking around. "Though it's a little strange that I couldn't find any bugging. I'm guessing someone thinks no one is coming back here."
"So you think they got her?" Noriko asked, although she hated the thought. Callisto needed help, not whatever the bastards would provide her with.
"I really don't know, but I think we're going to have to say yes," Philip said with a sigh. "If I'd have come better armed, I could probably have managed it. The only reason things went the way they did is that I was sloppy. For a full, prepared team? It wouldn't have been all that fair."
"It was my call," Noriko pointed out evenly. She'd asked him to come with, instead of gathering a proper team. She hadn't had a clue what they were going to step into - which was one of the problems.
"What was?" Philip asked with a blink.
"Just asking you along," Noriko answered.
"It was a good call," Philip said. "It was on me that I wasn't prepared enough. I know better than that."
"Let's just agree we both screwed up," Noriko replied. She wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise - nor would he her.
Philip just nodded. He blamed himself more than her, but that wouldn't change.
Part of Noriko was tempted to ask if Tony still wanted her head on a spike, but - just in case he hadn't shared his feelings on the subject with Philip, she didn't want to put him in that position. But there was still something she needed to tell him that she wasn't certain she had before. She might have, but honestly, some of what had been said right after they'd holed up at his apartment was a little blurry. At least now she could say it with a steady voice, if not less strong feelings. "And I'm sorry that I got you to die."
"I'm sorry that's not something I could have talked about," Philip said with a shrug. "I know it's a problem but it wasn't something I could have changed."
Noriko shrugged, and pushed her hands into her pockets, shoulders slightly hunched. "It'll teach me to react emotionally." She couldn't have forgiven herself if anything had happened to Bigby that he couldn't heal from.
"It's not like you can just flip a switch. But it does mean something to pay attention to," Philip said. "I mean, what kind of organization you want in the long run and if keeping secrets is a thing you're comfortable with or not."
What kind of organization. Noriko frowned a little at the phrasing, but let it go. "I don't mind secrets, as long as they're not going to get anybody killed. But what happened to Bigby was my failing, more than your secret." And if she'd responded the right way from the start, it wouldn't even have gotten to that point. Philip wouldn't have freaking died.
Philip just sighed and scrubbed a hand through the hair at the back of his head. This was never a good kind of conversation, he'd been told, now he believed it. "You're going to drive yourself crazy, going around it like that. You can't plan for every variable no matter how hard you try and some things you just need experience for. I knew we were chasing down a killer and I didn't come properly armed. I know better than that, Nori and I still did it."
"I'm not going to drive myself crazy, Philip," Noriko replied, shaking her head a little. "I'm going to get better." Not instantly, but little by little, with experience, and learning from her mistakes. "And yeah, I know that's gonna take time, but I'm not crying into my pillow every night in the meantime. I don't think Brand would appreciate," she wryly added.
Philip just snorted at that. "I don't think Abby Brand has a sympathetic bone in her body. But she could probably be a good teacher." And it might suit Noriko better, he thought, Abby's world instead of his.
Noriko had been about to suggest they take off, but that stopped her short, and she raised her eyebrows curiously. "Yeah?"
"We have similar skill sets," Philip said with a shrug. "We just are better at different things. Sorry," he said after a moment. "We knew each other before, I thought she'd have said something."
"Oh, no, she did," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "It's the skill set she's been more tight-lipped about." Well, not completely, but Abby seriously was cut from the same cloth as Philip.
Well, not entirely true. Her cloth was a lot more sarcastic.
"Well, if you tell her we're working on things, that might make her more willing," Philip said. "It's good to have different instructors, learning from just one can get stale."
"I'll talk to her," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "What is she better at?"
"She's more overt," Philip said, after a moment of thought. "And she's better with combat more suited to her body type, of course. I think that would be pretty valuable for you."
It wasn't a judgement and the tone certainly didn't imply it was, there were just some physiology issues that got more pronounced as people grew up.
"Definitely," Noriko agreed with a nod. She definitely couldn't do everything that Philip could, at least not with the same efficiency, and she didn't feel the least offended by what he was saying. It was the reality of things. "Thanks. Let's get going?" she finally suggested. She didn't like this place.
"After you," he said with a smile. He didn't care much for it either, but at least Noriko seemed mostly okay. That was something.
The weather had begun to chill just enough that a couple of young kids in hoodies wouldn't exactly raise any eyebrows in this part of town, which was for the better. Noriko's old backpack carrying her gauntlets was slung deceptively casually on her shoulder, and she'd pulled the hood over her distinctive blue hair. No reason to broadcast her presence, in case Callisto had kids looking out for her - or worse.
"You think we should risk stopping by the squat?" she asked Philip as they walked away from the car they'd borrowed at Xavier's.
Philip was even more nondescript in jeans and a worn out NYU hooded sweatshirt with matching, ever so carefully shaped ball cap tilted low over his eyes. He was the picture of college student white guy, utterly generic. "Not sure," he said. "I haven't heard any alerts with the area or from the police. We can swing by and see if there are any gawkers?"
"Sounds like a plan," Noriko confirmed, before they turned into the next street with that destination in mind. She wasn't exactly looking forward to being there again, but like hell she was going to let that stop her.
Philip couldn't help but to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he walked. She seemed like she was alright but they hadn't exactly talked about what happened. He was fine, or at least fine enough, but he'd had years of preparation for life going to hell, or at least a collection of coping strategies for it. "Nothing at all to see here, right? Just a boring couple of kids."
Noriko's lips twisted into a ghost of a wry smile, and she shot him a glance. "So boring," she quietly, dryly agreed.
"Just seeing the sights, slumming it in New York," he agreed as he casually stuffed his hands in the hoodie pocket. It was a useful piece of clothing, as baggy as it was. There were all kinds of space to hide things in there.
Was that the way he did it? Put himself in the skin of whoever he wanted to come off as? It seemed entirely more elaborate than the keep-your-head-down instincts Noriko had developed, so - probably. Also not the kind of question she wanted to ask him on the street. But it did make her realize that she was walking a little too quickly for somebody just slumming it, and she slowed down her pace. "And we're gonna go see Ground Zero next?"
"I guess," Philip said, making no effort to modulate his voice at all. "It'll depend on the people, you know me, babe, crowds are boring. Maybe something cool will happen out here."
Babe. It was difficult not to let her amusement show, but Noriko had had a lot of practice at remaining poker faced over her couple years on the streets. She just shot him a look, tilting her head slightly. "I won't hold my breath." Aiming for teenage despondency and hitting it square on.
The smallest smile tilted at the corner of his mouth. Philip would have never called her that if he wasn't playing a role and thankfully, Noriko seemed to know it. What he should have done then was sling an arm over her shoulder, but he didn't want his hands tied up or her movement compromised. "Never know, city that never sleeps, they say that, right?"
"I hope that's your way of saying you're gonna keep me up all night," Noriko pointed out in the same blasé tone as before. Hey, two could play that game.
"You've got no idea of the things we're gonna do," Philip drawled, ignoring the looks from the passerby or two who overheard them. That it was eyerolls and frowns was good, that meant they were being convincing.
Noriko let a small smile play on her lips, watching the reactions of the people around them but seemingly not giving a shit. Just like drama class, except they weren't on stage for this bit of improv. "Feeling creative, huh?"
"I've got to keep you guessing," he said with a grin. "I don't want you to get tired of me."
"Guessing," Noriko echoed, glancing at him, her small smile turned daring. "That's one word for it."
"So which way, do you think?" Philip asked. She was more the one with the agenda, he was there to help make sure things were going to stay okay.
"Wanna try and get lost?" she offered, before leading the way to a side street. There was another squat not far; she wanted to check in with them, and ask if they'd seen Callisto lately.
"Lead the way," Philip said with a grin.
Noriko walked back into the room where Callisto had been, after checking the ones surrounding it, heading for the stairs to call out to Philip, who was checking another floor. "Nothing here! You?"
"Nothing," Philip called back. He'd checked for hidden mikes first, of course, ditto cameras and had found nothing, unless there was something far more sophisticated than he knew to look for. There was no sign of anything, no struggle, no discarded ammo, nothing.
Noriko walked over to the busted window. It was still busted, but there was no trace of blood anywhere. No trace of anyone having lived here, either. She walked over to where the cop poster had hung and found the nicks in the wall from Callisto's knife throwing, feeling irrationally grateful that they - whoever they were - hadn't been able to erase her out of the world completely.
And it still didn't tell her shit about where she might be. She headed back out to the stairs, forcing herself not to look out the window at the place where Philip had met the pavement.
"This is a bust," Philip said as he met her. "If a team actually did come in here, they swept their presence completely clean."
"There's barely any sign that it's been lived in recently," Noriko added. Apart from how the place was a little too clean, and the odd structural damage they hadn't been able to do anything about. Yeah, a team actually did come in here, that was pretty clear.
"That's pretty standard for a good cleaner team," Philip said absently, still looking around. "Though it's a little strange that I couldn't find any bugging. I'm guessing someone thinks no one is coming back here."
"So you think they got her?" Noriko asked, although she hated the thought. Callisto needed help, not whatever the bastards would provide her with.
"I really don't know, but I think we're going to have to say yes," Philip said with a sigh. "If I'd have come better armed, I could probably have managed it. The only reason things went the way they did is that I was sloppy. For a full, prepared team? It wouldn't have been all that fair."
"It was my call," Noriko pointed out evenly. She'd asked him to come with, instead of gathering a proper team. She hadn't had a clue what they were going to step into - which was one of the problems.
"What was?" Philip asked with a blink.
"Just asking you along," Noriko answered.
"It was a good call," Philip said. "It was on me that I wasn't prepared enough. I know better than that."
"Let's just agree we both screwed up," Noriko replied. She wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise - nor would he her.
Philip just nodded. He blamed himself more than her, but that wouldn't change.
Part of Noriko was tempted to ask if Tony still wanted her head on a spike, but - just in case he hadn't shared his feelings on the subject with Philip, she didn't want to put him in that position. But there was still something she needed to tell him that she wasn't certain she had before. She might have, but honestly, some of what had been said right after they'd holed up at his apartment was a little blurry. At least now she could say it with a steady voice, if not less strong feelings. "And I'm sorry that I got you to die."
"I'm sorry that's not something I could have talked about," Philip said with a shrug. "I know it's a problem but it wasn't something I could have changed."
Noriko shrugged, and pushed her hands into her pockets, shoulders slightly hunched. "It'll teach me to react emotionally." She couldn't have forgiven herself if anything had happened to Bigby that he couldn't heal from.
"It's not like you can just flip a switch. But it does mean something to pay attention to," Philip said. "I mean, what kind of organization you want in the long run and if keeping secrets is a thing you're comfortable with or not."
What kind of organization. Noriko frowned a little at the phrasing, but let it go. "I don't mind secrets, as long as they're not going to get anybody killed. But what happened to Bigby was my failing, more than your secret." And if she'd responded the right way from the start, it wouldn't even have gotten to that point. Philip wouldn't have freaking died.
Philip just sighed and scrubbed a hand through the hair at the back of his head. This was never a good kind of conversation, he'd been told, now he believed it. "You're going to drive yourself crazy, going around it like that. You can't plan for every variable no matter how hard you try and some things you just need experience for. I knew we were chasing down a killer and I didn't come properly armed. I know better than that, Nori and I still did it."
"I'm not going to drive myself crazy, Philip," Noriko replied, shaking her head a little. "I'm going to get better." Not instantly, but little by little, with experience, and learning from her mistakes. "And yeah, I know that's gonna take time, but I'm not crying into my pillow every night in the meantime. I don't think Brand would appreciate," she wryly added.
Philip just snorted at that. "I don't think Abby Brand has a sympathetic bone in her body. But she could probably be a good teacher." And it might suit Noriko better, he thought, Abby's world instead of his.
Noriko had been about to suggest they take off, but that stopped her short, and she raised her eyebrows curiously. "Yeah?"
"We have similar skill sets," Philip said with a shrug. "We just are better at different things. Sorry," he said after a moment. "We knew each other before, I thought she'd have said something."
"Oh, no, she did," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "It's the skill set she's been more tight-lipped about." Well, not completely, but Abby seriously was cut from the same cloth as Philip.
Well, not entirely true. Her cloth was a lot more sarcastic.
"Well, if you tell her we're working on things, that might make her more willing," Philip said. "It's good to have different instructors, learning from just one can get stale."
"I'll talk to her," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "What is she better at?"
"She's more overt," Philip said, after a moment of thought. "And she's better with combat more suited to her body type, of course. I think that would be pretty valuable for you."
It wasn't a judgement and the tone certainly didn't imply it was, there were just some physiology issues that got more pronounced as people grew up.
"Definitely," Noriko agreed with a nod. She definitely couldn't do everything that Philip could, at least not with the same efficiency, and she didn't feel the least offended by what he was saying. It was the reality of things. "Thanks. Let's get going?" she finally suggested. She didn't like this place.
"After you," he said with a smile. He didn't care much for it either, but at least Noriko seemed mostly okay. That was something.
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