drear | OPEN SEASON 2.

[ Heine waves a hand back in acknowledgement. He wakes up a little after Eames, jerking upright in his seat with sharp intake of breath. He works quickly to take the PASIV needle out, shuddering a little at the feeling of it leaving his body. ]

The teacher— [ Well, she's probably not really a teacher. Heine looks at her, then back at the PASIV device. They could just leave it on for now; the drugs should keep her under for long enough. ] —where's Elena?

She can't have gone far.

[His head felt too groggy to figure out when the tremors had started in the dreamscape and calculate it into real world time, and he glanced around the room for any sort of noticeable traps or weapons. Nothing.

Straightening, he padded over to the window, squinting out of it.]

Her car is still here- fuck!

[He ducked down again in time to just miss getting shot in the face by the woman in question, glancing over at Heine.]

I can play decoy if you want to try and snag her before she runs.

[ Heine twitches when glass shatters, rolling out of his seat so he's crouched down and out of sight. ]

Your trust in me is really touching.

[ He's surprised Eames doesn't suspect he'll just run given the opportunity. But Heine wants to get back at Elena, too, and he nods. He takes his gun out of where he'd hidden it after arriving at the house, keeping low to the ground before getting a quick look out at the lay of the parking lot. ]

...right. [ Heine jerks his head at the door. Time to get out there, Eames. ]

Unless you want to switch?

[Eames wasn't above using deadly force in dreams, but reality was a much different story. If he didn't have to, he'd take the path of with the least amount of violence. 'Trust' was probably the last word that came to mind, but if that's what Heine wanted to believe, Eames wouldn't fault him.

He followed the other man cautiously, digging into his pocket. Maybe Elena had been in a rush or had gotten sloppy, but he still had the key to his rental vehicle, just in case they needed to give chase.]

After you.

[He wasn't the one who was armed, after all.]

[ Heine barely has to think about it before shaking his head. If someone's going to be holding a gun, it'll be him.

At the door, he takes only a moment to judge distances, and to glance back at Eames to make certain he's ready before he says— ] Now [ —and fires once, at Elena's car window, before stepping out into the lot. ]

[Not needing to be told twice, Eames was already in the parking lot, head down as he headed straight to his car. He heard Elena returning fire as she quickly ducked into her own vehicle, her car starting up.]

Heine!

[Unlocking his vehicle, he got in just in time to see Elena peeling out, and cursing under his breath, he drove up to the other man, waiting for him to get in. His expression was focused and serious, a small scowl on his face.]

We need her alive.

[It may be some sentimental thoughts talking, but also his need for answers. He had gotten along with Elena just fine until all of this. He wondered what would have made her sell him, or Heine, out so quickly or what her motives had been.]

[ Heine keeps his gun up and aimed, popping off another shot and hitting a tire. The bullet isn't large enough caliber to puncture it completely, but it's enough to at least slow the car down. ]

Do we?

[ It's sort of rhetorical, but not really. Heine gets into the passenger seat and slams the door shut before they chase after her car. ]

She has to have information stored somewhere.

I would prefer not to murder someone, if we can help it.

[The words came out pretty dryly, ducking as Elena fired a few wayward shots out the window towards them, cursing creatively under his breath.]

Yes, probably in her mind.

Yeah, yeah.

[ Heine stays low in his seat, but peers out long enough to get a better look at Elena's car. The side on which the tire he'd shot is seems slightly lower than before, but he can't be certain yet. ]

Get in closer. —you mean you want to Dreamshare with her?

[Since Heine was so generous in complying with his request, Eames floored it to try and close the distance between their cars, weaving in and out of traffic recklessly.

It was a while before he answered, he was so focused on his task.]

Not necessarily 'want' to but it might be the quickest way to get an honest answer. It's not without its risks though. Elena is highly trained and will know we're there as soon as we get there.

[ Heine grunts in agreement, leaning slightly out the side window so he can get a better look at the car. He fires off another shot, clipping the side mirror. ]

Or we could just convince her.

[ Through violence, is the implication. ]

Torture doesn't have a high success rate for honest answers.

[Not to mention Eames didn't really have the stomach to do so to an old comrade when that person could have a perfectly good reason for tossing them both to the wolves. He tried to follow closer to Elena, but she fired a few shots too close to home, and he increased the distance between them.]

Let's focus on capturing her first, shall we? We could let it seem like we lost her then see where exactly she was trying to go?

[ But it'll still get answers, Heine thinks. He doesn't press it, though, and stays leaning against the dashboard with his gun up as they continue to trail him. ]

Fine. [ He watches the back of the car intensely, trying to memorize every detail of it. ]

[How surprisingly sensible. Still, Eames wasn't going to fight a man who was smart enough not to argue, and instead made sure to keep a good distance between them and Elena as he followed her all throughout town. She kept crossing paths and back tracking, so it took awhile for them to finally arrive at the destination.

It looked like an old run down apartment complex, but Eames wasn't going to take any chances.]

Hand me the gun in the glove compartment, would you?

[ Heine's not sure he wants to trust Eames with a gun, not after he'd already been betrayed by Elena, but they've gotten this far. Giving Eames a look to show his reluctance, he opens the glovebox and takes out the handgun. He hands it over, grip first. ]

[He can't fault Heine for his reluctance, which is why he'd asked for the other man to hand him the gun. No point in getting shot by a trigger happy man he barely knew when he could just politely make the request.

He gave the other man a small, quick smile, taking the gun from him with a small nod of thanks.]

Right. So I can follow her in, if you want to go around the back just in case our favorite lady isn't alone.

Fine. [ To the idea of going around back. Heine looks out to check the door and windows, but he doesn't see much to give him a hint. Waiting for any longer also increases the window of time for Elena to escape out the back.

So without much further ado, Heine gets out of the car and jogs around to the back. ]

[After Eames saw Heine off, he crept quietly to the front of the building, the coast seemingly clear. The inside looked just as dilapidated and unkept as the outside, though the lack of dirt and dust made it seem that it had been inhabited for quite some time. There was a marked trail of cleanliness that lead up the stairs, and he could hear Elena's footsteps as she ascended.

His heartbeat thudding in his ears, Eames followed her up, waiting at the top of the second staircase, debating on whether he should wait for Heine or continue forward. There was safety in numbers, and he would hate to confront Elena only to be cornered by Heine, in case the man turned out to be a turncoat.]

[ Heine makes sure to check through the windows in the back of the house before going in, but it seems to be empty. Going through the lower floor to get to the staircase results in no other encounters, but he does spot Eames at the top of the stairs within a few minutes.

He's careful not to say anything, and walk quietly, just nods slightly. ]

[Heine's appearance took a small bit of tension out of Eames' shoulders, and he returned the nod. It seemed like Elena was alone, making a quiet phone call a few rooms down. She was speaking so softly it was difficult to make out more words than 'buyer' and a few noises of confirmation or negation.

Since it seemed to be going nowhere, Eames jerked his chin up towards the room, taking point as he started forward, gun trained on Elena as soon as he was in the doorway. She had the decency to look surprised, hands going up immediately, the light of her ear piece blinking rhythmically.]

Heine?

[He called, just to make note of where he was without taking his eyes off of Elena, whose surprise had melted and given way to... pride? While her hands were still above her head, she gave a small, polite clap. Now he was starting to feel a bit silly, like he was missing out on some big joke that should have been obvious.]

Behind you.

[ Heine has his gun up, too, standing a few paces behind and to the right of Eames. ]

Why the fuck is she clapping.

[ Is it a signal? Is she just being weird? Who knows. Heine is just listening for anything that might come from the outside or the lower levels. ]

Not sure. Keep your wits about you.

[It doesn't seem to be a signal, but instead just some good old fashioned mockery.

Probably because two guns are trained on her, she started talking, quickly and coolly. Apparently this was supposed to be a job interview, and they managed to pass. Well, if they could tell her the code word that was hidden in the paperwork, anyway.

Eames wasn't sure he bought all of this, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at Heine.]

What do you think?

[ Interview, code word, whatever. Heine doesn't trust her or anyone who acts like this. Though Eames asks, almost as soon as he does Heine pulls the trigger, shooting Elena in the leg and then the arm when she doesn't go down. ]

Bullshit. Find out who she's talking to. They might be coming here.

[Eames flinched away when the gun went off, scowling over at the other man.]

A bit of warning, if you please.

[He walked over to Elena, tucking his gun away as he crouched down next to her, tearing off sections of her shirt to help her tie a tourniquet. She was swearing freely and didn't seem keen to fight, her eyes trained on Heine, and she made no move to resist when Eames plucked the headset off of her.

There was a bit of shouting on the other line, and Eames made sure to identify himself, politely asking they do the same.]

She might have been telling the truth. They're talking about hiring us for a job.

Sorry.

[ If his tone weren't so flat, it would sound a little more sarcastic. As it is, Heine concentrates instead on circling around Elena on the ground to get a look out the window. No one is out there that he can see. ]

They could have heard her talking. If they wanted to hire us they could've just called.

[ Heine just still isn't buying it. ]

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