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With his duties at his mother's boutique taken care of, Trey had taken his car and driven a few blocks away to a clean, well-lit car park and left it there, setting out on foot to lose himself in the crowds of DC in the late evening. It was annoying to have to go to this trouble, but it would be worse than annoying to have someone, particularly the wrong someone, link Trey Cameron's going with the arrival of Sailor Fafnir as his aura flared to life when he powered up.

The foot traffic gave him fairly good cover, he thought, as he navigated his way to a spot a few blocks from the parking garage. He was just one of many, and when he felt safe, he slipped away from the main street and headed around the buildings into the back alley. There was no traffic here, or very little, and the sparse people were easy enough to avoid. He'd done this enough he knew the right spot to be out of the view of security cameras, or the ones he hadn't purposefully broken anyway. A quick check told him they hadn't been repaired yet, and with no one in sight, he felt safe enough to draw out his henshin pen.

Tonight was a quota night, and he only had a few hours to get this work done before he'd need to return home... to do more work. So really, the sooner it was done, the better, especially since it was his least favorite of his duties.

"Fafnir asteroid power, make up." He murmured over the dark blue pen he held, feeling the magic within him surge. A sickly purple cloud boiled up from his feet, rising to obscure his form, before it sank and solidified into the long robes, and longer hair, of Corrupt Sailor Fafnir.

The smoke cleared, leaving Fafnir standing in his long purple and blue robes... and blinking at a young girl skateboarding past.

She stared as she swerved around him. Directly at him. And not just the way someone might stare at what he wore, since he'd seen enough of that to know how that looked. Had she seen him transform? Had she seen him before he'd transformed? Fear wrapped like a vise around his chest, clamping down painfully as his heart beat a rapid, panicked flutter. <******** didn't even think about what he was doing as he moved. Breaking into a run, Fafnir chased down the girl on the skateboard, darting up behind her to reach out and grab her by the neck. Had he been less panicked, Fafnir might have been a little more gentle when he ripped her bodily off her skateboard, leaving her dangling with her shoes just off the ground.

"What did you see?" He barked as he gave her a little shake, remembering only at the last minute not to use his full senshi strength of ********, what was he going to do with her? She'd seen him as Trey. She'd seen him transform. She knew that the man she had seen was a Negaverse officer. It hardly mattered that she may not have known who Trey was, or what an officer was, but the White Moon hid in plain sight. She could have been a senshi herself, or a Knight, and alarms were still blaring between his ears, because if his identity got out... that was it. His life and everything he'd been working for would be over.

Her squirming was not making it easy to hold her, even with his improved strength, and Fafnir had to grab at her arms as she attempted to loosen his grip on her. He got one wrist secured when she swung her legs up and kneed him in the stomach, making him grunt with effort.

She said she didn't care, but not only did he not think that was actually true, it ultimately didn't matter, because Fafnir was not a man who enjoyed taking risks. He was going to have to do something with her. His mind spun as he ran through his possibilities.

He had to make sure she wasn't going to tell anyone. If she was just a civilian, maybe he could intimidate her into it, but that was no guarantee that when he let her go, that intimidation would stick. If she were powered, then he had to consider something more drastic... If he'd been Labyrinthite, the answer would have been simple. Kill her, and she could tell no one. One less Order annoyance. Or one less civilian, which wasn't much of a hardship with a city filled with them. And it would be easy enough. He'd practiced pulling starseeds enough, it would be over in moments, and he'd even have something to bring back with him... but Fafnir barely gave that any consideration.

Despite what he'd been through, what he was working for, and the organization he was part of, Fafnir was not in the business of killing people. Not unless there was truly no other way.

So that left what? Bringing her over to their side? That would silence her whether or not she was powered, it just depended on how much power was needed. But it was not something he could do himself. That meant he was going to need help.

Pulling her back, he wrestled the struggling girl closer to the wall, out of direct view of anyone who might happen by.

Netherite? The man would give him such a lecture about transforming where he could be seen... and ever after, there would be subtle reminders of it, little jabs to remind him he'd failed and needed to work harder. It wasn't maliciousness on Netherite's fault, but the man was like a bulldog... once he got hold of something, he never let it go.

His choices were severely limited if he wanted to keep this hushed...

Faustite? He'd worked with the man before, they had something of a report going... maybe he could convince him to look the other way about it. Fafnir had some trepidation about asking him, considering his history, but he squashed the soft feeling ruthlessly. Faustite was an officer, as was Fafnir. They would do their duties.

Shifting about, Fafnir grabbed the girl and shoved her against the wall, pulling her with an arm across her neck.

"Sorry." He said, his voice tight. "I need to make a call. So be a good girl and shut up for a moment..."

Still, it was a struggle to get his pen out and open it into a tablet with one hand, calling up Faustite's contact.

Quote:

I have an urgent issue. Can you come meet me?

Adding in the address of the cross street they were on, he hit send and prayed the general would be quick about it.

Her effort at escape weren't getting her anywhere and now he had her more restrained than before, but that mattered not. His antagonizing her only made her fight harder ... good girl her a**. She was thrashing about and attempting hit any part of him that was in her reach.

Suddenly, however, there were two of them, and that momentarily stopped her fight because the other was a walking ... oven ... fireplace. She blinked several times, not believing what she was seeing and realized she was more royally ******** then maybe she originally thought.

"Get off, you overgrown walking blueberry," she managed to choke out renewing her fight for freedom. She was probably about to be taken out this world because some guy she didn't even know was overreacting and she wasn't going to make it easy. She gave them both a hard glare, before trying to dig her nails into the captors arm.

Had this very exchange occurred years ago, Faustite woud have taken a severe bend with Fafnir. Would've thought him careless and worthy of reprimand for getting caught by a stranger like this. But, as he experienced himself not long ago, being seen was statistically inevitable. No matter how careful one was about transformation, someone would eventually see. And then one would be faced with this very situation.

Faustite's expression was neutral as he listened. While Fafnir went on, however, Faustite tried to bite back a small smile. He thought Fafnir terribly cute in that moment, being so vulnerable and yet caring so greatly about the fate of a complete stranger — one who called him an overgrown blueberry and tried to claw her way through his bracer. Truly, that care was endearing, and Faustite was no good at hiding his expressions.

He didn't bother offering to starseed her, or recruit her as a youma. Even if these possibilities hadn't occurred to Fafnir, Faustite didn't want to spoil that tenderness.

Hand on his hip, his free hand took to gesturing while he spoke. "Seems like part of SpecOps's job, doesn't it? Eliminating security risks." Flame eyes flickered over to the girl, then back up to Fafnir. He found it far easier to follow through when Fafnir claimed responsibility for the recruit afterward; that he didn't have to add to his own team was heartening. "Can say you took her on as a favor to me.

"Recruit her through you, then — you're in a better position for it. Take up her starseed," Faustite finished as he rested a hand between Fafnir's shoulder blades. He thought that, perhaps he could do it like the Sovereigns had — push enough chaotic energy into the boy, send it en route to the girl, give her a new uniform if she wasn't already awakened, or a dormant senshi. It was worth the try, he decided, as he summoned up the dark energy to send through Fafnir.

That hint of a smile caught Fafnir off guard, a little line forming between his brows as he tried to read that expression. Did Faustite find this amusing? He felt his heart sink when he mentioned Spec Ops, new worries fluttering to the surface if he had to face someone from that branch. It would be even worse than facing his own General...

But Faustite surprised him again, sending relief crashing through him, as he moved closer and put a hand on his back. Gooseflesh ran down his bare arms as he felt the energy gather, and the sudden change from Faustite recruiting her, to Fafnir doing it, with his help... The trepidation was back with a vengeance, even as his captive thrashed and spouted nonsense. Perverts?

"God, would you shut up?" He snapped at her as he turned back to her, blue eyes narrowing. He forced lightness into his voice that he didn't feel, cooling his tone to something brisk and as professional as he could manage with all his years of experience. "There is a secret war going on in this city, and unfortunately, you've just stumbled your way into it. I'd apologize, but if you've been here any length of time, you should have learned not to be out at night, alone. So unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for you, you're going to be recruited to our side. I'm sorry this is going to be a bit uncomfortable, but hopefully it'll be over quickly. Then we can get you oriented and in to training."

The little monologue felt ridiculous when he held her pinned to a wall, ready to literally shove his hand into her chest, but the whole situation was a bit ridiculous, really. Closing down that part of him that still felt horrified about it, sealing away those emotions, he brought his free hand to her chest and concentrated as his fingers pressed to her clothing... and then through them, passing bloodlessly past flesh and into that strange, dark place where the starseed resided. The motion came smoothly and easily, though the effort and concentration was clear on Fafnir's face from the frown he gave.

There, out of sight, he felt his fingers brush against something and he reached to wrap his fingers so very gently around it, caging in the small crystal as delicately as holding a butterfly.

"I have it." He murmured, firming his grip on the girl to keep her from squirming about and jarring his hold.

Sahara glared when the guy started spouting something completely ridiculous. She had lived in this city her whole life but she was also 15, she still had a curfew and was hardly privy to the cities nightlife. She was tempted to call bullshit, but he pushed his hand into her chest and the pain was her main focus. It hurt, her eyes had done wide at the walking oven's word of 'don't break'.

Sahara didn't scream, even terrified she was glaring and digging her nails into whatever part of the man in front of her she could as the pair ... recruited her. What was this crap?

It hurt like hell and Sahara was less than pleased, but it was over quickly and Sahara seemed to whole new outfit with it. The glare never left her face, making her look ever defiant and very much like a problem, but she was at least quiet.