[Closed] Not Staying Out of Trouble

[denyamenti]

Characters: Bakura & Costigan
Date: April 12th-ish
Location: Fire Sector → FI-1B
Situation: After being bargained to stand down his magic in wake of Midii's post, Bakura decides to tail Costigan to find out just what kind of person his new "handler" is.
Warnings/Rating: Probably warning for language.

Given his most recent encounters with Zatanna and prior to that, with Hawke, overall laying low probably wasn't the worst idea right now, all things considered. His arm was still bandaged from the collision with the garbage bin the magician had hurled at him. True he'd been a little more reckless with himself after his identity had been revealed, knowing that this body was "his" and not that of his host and therefore didn't need to be quite so protected or maintained for the illusion of the teenager. But he also knew that, Shadow Magic aside, he was still in a very mortal body and he had to be careful.

Laying low however, was very different than sitting at home and waiting to uselessly.

After he'd struck the bargain with Costigan, Bakura had spent some time digging into the man's public correspondence on the network. There was actually precious little that wasn't generic statements or observations; he suspected there might be attached encryptions to a lot of the entries but he had no way to verify that beyond his gut instinct and no skills with which to break it. Technology was Kaiba's forte, not his. So he paid attention instead to what was said and hit upon some interesting pieces from November.

"So that's why you were so touchy about your memories..." the thief mused, filing it away for the good possibility of leverage later.

After dark, he decided to do a general sweep through the Fire Sector once again, the same place he'd run into the kedan thugs and Zatanna before. This time however, it seemed that the gangs had some inkling of what he'd done to one of their number and after a few wary surveillances, they seemed to recognize enough description of him and left him be... which left him free to trail his actual target. Bakura followed Costigan, keeping a measured pace and using the habitually cluttered streets of this Sector to his advantage.

Comments

[lostundercover]

Costigan had already sought out his shady figures and concluded his business for the night hours before. He had gone home, had a few drinks, and rolled around in bed for awhile. Eventually he had no choice but to accept that insomnia had returned to him. Rising, he threw on clothes again, and slipped silently out of his place to go visit the closest thing he had to the grave of his recently lost friend.

Paranoia was second nature to the undercover and he often felt suspicious of the people around him. It was a permanent state, constantly seeking exits and being aware of where everyone was at all times. That never went away. This time was different, an itch at the back of his mind telling him that something he was noticing but couldn't quite piece together might be a problem. He felt like he was being followed, beyond the usual paranoia that he might be.

He stopped in the middle of the street and turned around, scanning the crowd, but no one stood out. Instead of the usual route, he opted to take a series of alleys, a few of which were empty. Costigan had no fear of the dark or the people in it with a 9mm at the small of his back and a switchblade in his pocket - or maybe that was the apathy he felt about his existence here.

It only took an extra fifteen minutes to arrive at the suite. While he couldn't shake the gnawing feeling, he had no evidence of it and was a man who did his best to work on evidence whenever possible. Without hesitation, he moved past the door and around to the window where a small piece of wood ensured it never fully closed and locked. He wiggled the piece and then slipped his fingers beneath, lifting the window. With one last look out at the empty darkness, he slipped into the empty suite.

It had been reset for the newcomer, for whatever unfortunate soul would end up in this place of nightmares. Hell, if not for some of the souls trapped here. Costigan moved silently through the rooms, knowing exactly what he would find in each and still comforted by it somehow.

[denyamenti]

Careful though he was at following, Costigan still seemed to sense that he was being trailed and Bakura had to duck out of sight a couple times, blending with the late night crowds. It became harder when the man turned off the main streets and into the alleys but Bakura was persistent and it was a point of pride for him that he never resorted to calling on the Ring or magic to keep himself hidden. He had relied on stealth his whole life and it had kept him alive, so it was thrilling in a way to come across someone who (at least it appeared) had many of the same types of instincts. If anything, that only made Bakura more interested in learning more about him.

A dim corner kept him out of line of sight while he watched Costigan stop at and then enter an unoccupied suite. The covert visit was interesting and he hung back to watch and search his memory to place this suite as having belonged a familiar name. Familiar in that it was one of the man's more recent broadcasts and one to which Bakura himself, under his host's guise, had spoken to him about: Abigail Hobbs.

He didn't use the same window that Costigan had, but a deft picking of another locked one soon had it open. This was a one-level suite which made it quite spread out, as opposed to the suites like his own which had multiple levels but ultimately had the same square footage. Lowering the window back closed quietly, it was now a game of which would find the other in the unilluminated suite first.

[lostundercover]

Any noise that Bakura's entrance might have caused was lost in the sounds of the night and Costigan took no note of them. It wasn't until he looped back around to one of the spare rooms that he froze. If every detail of the space wasn't burned into memory by now, he would never have noticed the extension of the shadow in the dark room.

He thought about reaching for the light switch, but instead simply reached back to slide the gun from his belt. Not a second later, the weapon was cocked, safety off, ready to go. He kept the weapon down by his side, not wanting to scare the individual if they only happened into the place in search of shelter.

"You want to tell me what you're doing here?" He called out to the shadows. Some part of his mind worried that perhaps his paranoia had overtaken him, that he was beginning to imagine reasons to justify his anxiety, but another part of his mind insisted that he was correct and not imagining anything at all.

[denyamenti]

For the span of a minute the shadow doesn't move and then Bakura takes a half step forward. Not enough to be considered an advance (wise, not knowing how itchy the trigger finger was) but enough so that the lights from outside could give his features some definition to match the voice which Costigan would recognize.

"I didn't picture you as the type to bring offerings to the dead," he answered slyly. "But then, this is hardly a shrine."

[lostundercover]

The part of Costigan's mind insisting he was crazy had nearly won out before the figure finally moved and spoke. Although Bakura didn't know it, he may have just saved the Bostonian a potential overdose. Instead, Costigan tensed and frowned at the mostly silhouetted figure. His trigger finger was never itchy - his hands never shook and he never made a move he didn't mean to - but the man's announcement of his presence wasn't exactly a reason for his being here and Costigan made no move to disarm his weapon yet.

"You followed me here," the undercover guessed. He wasn't certain; rather, he hoped the confirmation might help alleviate more concerns of his paranoia strengthening. "Why?"

[denyamenti]

Bakura moved smoothly from where he had been lurking, parallel to the undercover to keep a constant distance between them. Reaching out a hand to snag the back of the desk chair nearby before turning it around and sitting. If he was at all concerned about the one opposite him being armed, it didn't show. "I did," he agreed. "I decided I wanted to know more about the one who plans to call the shots."

[lostundercover]

Costigan didn't need Bakura to be afraid to make himself feel better. Seeing the guy sit reduced the chance of his being an immediate threat, though, and so the undercover clicked the safety of his Walther PPK on and returned it to its position at the small of his back. He readjusted his shirt and jacket to hide the weapon again. Hopefully it would serve as a minor deterrent, if nothing else.

"You think I call the shots because I want a say in who you attack?" He couldn't help the slight scoff that accompanied the words. Costigan leaned against the door frame. Clearly the guy had never been involved in any form of military, jail, or police.

[denyamenti]

"I said plans to," Bakura emphasized with a smirk. "And nothing about our deal keeps me from asking more of what I want to know. Such as why, as you obviously know how to use that--" One hand reached out lazily to point to the once again hidden gun beneath the man's jacket before draping once more across the back of the chair. The pose was deceptively indolent, though he knew it would likely not fool someone as keen as the undercover in the slightest, no more than Costigan's causal lean against the doorway suggested he was still anything less than at alert.

"--why you bargain for targets, rather than to get me to stop... and why you seem so sure that my agreement will keep me out of prison."

[lostundercover]

Costigan shook his head. "I don't have any delusions about the deal we made."

In his opinion, Bakura was a loose canon at best and one he couldn't hope to control. The best he felt he could do was to try to gain some notice of the targets and maybe even to be able to sway the guy in a particular direction. It wasn't worth shit, but ideally he'd know a lot faster when the kid stepped over the line and be able to handle it accordingly.

"We both know killing you wouldn't do anything and I highly doubt you would stop because I asked nicely." Or for any other reason. Like addicts never stopped being addicts, criminals never really stopped being criminals either. "I think I can keep you out of prison by giving you the right targets. Call it arrogance."

Although he wouldn't blame Bakura for suspecting more, Costigan had no intention of pulling any strings to protect the guy from the kedan's police force. His own arrangement with Evandau wouldn't extend to the asshole in front of him unless he had a damn good reason and he couldn't think of one that might apply to the kid.

[denyamenti]

"I might yet call it that, I haven't decided."

He continued to study the one opposite him, turning Costigan's words over in his mind. Nothing stood out to him as a lie, so either the man wasn't lying (and there was a certain art, in telling the truth while deceiving) or he was good enough at it that the difference was undetectable. Either way, they were both skills Bakura made use of and truthfully, it was refreshing to have someone whose motives he didn't fully know. It was the same welcome risk that drove him to compete as he did, in the all-or-nothing style that was so ingrained.

But thus far he hadn't learned anything new or interesting and had no more insight into Costigan, so that was reason enough for Bakura to continue pressing, trying to find what was below the surface.

"It's kind of touching, how you intend to protect everyone from me," he said. His hand lifted again, indicating the empty suite in which they stood. As he did, the white bandages wrapping the opposite forearm came into view for a moment before the gesturing one came down to lay across them once again. Bakura wasn't actively trying to hide the injury but there was still the precept not to show it as a potential weakness either.

"Are you sure you're not just overcompensating for the ones you couldn't help?"

[lostundercover]

Costigan's deception was equal parts of both. He often used as much truth as possible, rarely outright lying unless necessary, and he really did believe that his helping to choose the targets could keep Bakura out of jail. It wasn't arrogance, however. The undercover was simply strategic and knew enough, both of people and about them, to have a good feeling for which people would quietly handle the attacks on their own and which would announce them to the larger public. Deception had been such an essential part of growing up, then literally what kept him alive for years, that now sometimes he even believed his own lies. He was that good.

The other guy's words did get to him, more so the reminder of those he had lost than the accusation of overcompensating. Costigan frowned, not interested in hiding his displeasure at present.

"Not everyone," he corrected coldly. It would be better to make Bakura think he was territorial than a bleeding heart. "As for the ones I couldn't help? They're long gone. Trying to reign you in wouldn't do anything for any of them. Just for me."

[denyamenti]

Finally a reaction and Bakura filed that away for later... but Costigan might see one of his own, as something twinges across the thief's expression for a moment at the statement before it's swiftly gone again and he stands. Grabbing the chair by the tall back, he twisted it back to its original place with one hand.

"Not everything that's long gone is beyond help, sedjart." As Bakura crisply spoke the unknown term in the manner of a title or name rather than simply a word, it was not affected by Tu Vishan's magic that normally translated their spoken words.

"But it seems we'll have to wait and see, what each of us gets out of this bargain."

[lostundercover]

Costigan straightened as Bakura stood, knowing neither one of them wanted to feel disadvantaged. The guy probably could take Costigan in a fight easily, depending on his abilities. That didn't mean the Bostonian was willing to go down without a fight. Lucky for both of them, now seemed not to be the time for them to figure that out.

"Not everything, no," he agreed. Costigan assumed the word was from whatever native language the kid spoke and didn't care to ask about it, forgetting - and ignoring - how things were magically translated. "I hope it works out, for both our sakes."

[denyamenti]

The thief grinned at the matched posture before inclining his head as though to convey that he had no intention of attacking the Bostonian and was merely standing because the conversation was apparently finished. Costigan seemed adept enough at reading body language and Bakura used more of it than the average person realized; for that reason, he started for the opposite door first, allowing Costigan to follow or remain as he chose without having to show the thief his back.

"Perhaps we'll try this again sometime, when each of us is feeling more talkative."

[lostundercover]

Costigan watched silently as Bakura moved toward the exit, a light smirk appearing on his lips at the idea that either of them were ever more talkative. He didn't know the other guy too well, but both seemed more keen on letting others do the talking and simply taking it all in. It didn't work well for conversation.

Just before the other guy could disappear, Costigan called out to him. "Hey, Bakura. Don't come here again."

It wasn't exactly a threat. It was, by sheer nature of being a command and suggesting that the alternative was unpleasant. Yet, there was no animosity behind it and Costigan didn't feel too strongly about enforcing it if the guy did actually show up. It was something they could deal with then, if it had to happen.

[denyamenti]

"I won't need to," he replied without turning around, lifting the sash of the window he'd entered by and evidently intending to leave the same way. "Now that I have an idea of what 'you' I'll find here."