gaspin' for air [closed]

While the description had matched his past lover, Adler hadn’t put two and two together. There were a lot of brunette males with glasses running around. When he glanced over his shoulder to scan the bar again, one of his brows raised ever so slightly when he spotted a familiar face. It was the closest expression to surprise that he’d give.

“You’re still alive, huh?” The purple haired man observed dryly as Parker took a seat next to him, his light blue eyes blatantly looking over the other. This seemed highly unlikely, but he wasn’t going to complain. At least one of his main worries about incompetence was no longer an issue… For the most part. Parker wasn’t perfect, but he got the job done.

Shifting his weight a little to get more comfortable, he sat partially sideways in his stool facing towards the younger man, leaning onto the countertop with an elbow. “I figured you would have got yourself killed by now,” he admitted honestly, as blunt as he had always been. “How much do you know about this mission, anyway? They gave me his name and where we can find him.”

Just like that he was focusing on work, not bothering to do any sort of catch up. He wasn’t really even curious of what Parker had been up to these last few years, and he wasn’t going to pretend he was.

PARKER COMSTOCK

“That so?” Adler didn’t seem bothered by the news that the other was involved with Treyco’s and Ray’s deaths, not even blinking when he heard it. Out of everyone in their old crew, he had been closest to Parker… Which, considering how distant he always was, didn’t really seem to be saying a whole lot.

Nodding as Parker went on about additional mission details, he was glad to hear that they were on the same page. Good. “We can find him guarding one of their warehouses, where there’ll be minimal security. I staked it out last night, no more than three guys on a rotating shift at a time. He should be there in about half an hour. We should do a typical grab and bag. Take out the other guards, take him somewhere for the questioning where we won’t be interrupted. In the industrial area, I’ve already found an abandoned warehouse where no one will be close enough to hear him,” Adler laid out his plan evenly, as if he was talking about the goddamn weather. As usual, he was very thorough and did his homework.

“If you got another idea, lay it on me,” he added on, open to hearing other plans even though he was confident in his own. It was part of his careful nature, always wanting to go with the best plan, even if it wasn’t his own. “I got us an unmarked van and silenced pistols. We can get to him quick.”

Even though Parker’s disappointment in his lack of interest was obvious, Adler didn’t even comment on it. This wasn’t the time to spend talking about the past, they had a job to do… Not that he’d be interested in discussing their old crew, regardless. Never had he been one for dwelling on the past.

“It’s not necessary, and it’ll draw unwanted attention. If you want to stay behind and torch it, feel free, but I won’t be with you. As for checking the warehouse, I didn’t get a chance to look inside. There might be more men, for all I know. It’d be safest to just grab the guy we need and get out of there,” Adler mused aloud, not seeming to be too fond of checking out the warehouse. He never did like things he didn’t know, especially when he was on a job. He didn’t shoot it down entirely, though, thinking it was possible if they were careful.

“I suppose we’ll just have to remind them, what it’s like,” Adler commented as he followed Parker outside, again not mentioning the sigh. Whatever was bothering the other man was no concern of his, unless it began interrupting their mission. “You still use those things?” He almost sounded amused when he spotted the bat, recalling the sort of damage that Parker could do with the simply weapon. It would come in handy, soon enough.

Leading the way to the van he had mentioned, he unlocked it before climbing into the driver’s seat, careful to make sure his hair was fully inside so it wouldn’t get caught in the door. He had learned that lesson the hard way. Soon as Parker was in he started the engine up and got on the road, knowing exactly where to go. “It’ll be fastest if I shoot down the two we don’t need, and you can use that ancient weapon of yours to knock out our guy,” he mused aloud, quick to find an efficient way to incorporate the bat into his plan. “There might be some pokemon hanging around, too, we’ll have to be careful,” he added on as they pulled up just around the corner from the warehouse there target was in, out of sight so they wouldn’t be spotted until they wanted to be seen.

The stoic man blinked when he was called Addie, not having heard that nickname in years. His hand twitched softly, recalling the last time he had heard it. Between the sheets, a warm body beneath him, and that name had hardly been a whisper. Quickly he pushed the memory out of his mind, taking a carefully measured breath to calm down. He didn’t do more than hum quietly to indicate he heard the other, not daring any more at the moment since he didn’t want to show any other signs of recognition. It was common for him to get even more quiet and withdrawn, when he felt like he was on the verge of letting himself feel something.

It didn’t help at all that he could tell Parker was checking him out, having to quickly suppress the desires he felt building to keep his head clear. “Let’s,” he repeated with a little nod, rather than reacting rather violently like he usually did when others called him pretty. Even after all these years, he was still accustomed to hearing it in this man’s voice. Sure, at first he hadn’t been so accepting, but over time the brunette had earned the privilege of calling him such a thing.

“By the time we get there, the shifts should have just taken place. He’ll be there,” Adler purposefully spoke about work again to refocus, his electric blue eyes remaining strictly on the road before him. “Let me go in first, and then you come in swinging right after me, once the other two are down,” he filled in further details about his plan as they neared their destination, which didn’t take long at all. Soon as he parked out of sight, he climbed out of the car and retrieved his pistol, quickly checking it over to make sure it was loaded and the silencer was attached properly. Sure, they could leave the other two guards alive, but it’d be an unnecessary risk, as far as he was concerned. “You ready, Parker?”

PARKER COMSTOCK

Patiently Adler waited as Parker tried a couple practice swings, having no qualms with waiting for a little warm up. If it helped his partner get in the right frame of mind, he didn’t mind the few seconds it took. He merely nodded when the man claimed to be ready, simply rolling his shoulders to loosen up before he brought up his pistol.

Two shots, two kills. Both guards had clean bullet wounds in the sides of their heads, the pistol a low enough caliber that with the silencer, they didn’t have enough momentum to break out the other side of the skull. The effect was as devastating as he counted on it being, the bullet bouncing around in brain matter and killing each man almost instantly. He trusted Parker to do his job, but he still watched carefully to make sure the target was out.

The older man had just turned the barrel towards the approaching pokemon when Parker’s own team was brought forth and quickly dispatched the threat. Impressive, they were well trained. It wasn’t too easy, finding pokemon that could be trained to kill others of their kind. He didn’t bother bringing out his own, thinking the little thing was useless as it was at the moment.

Making his way back to the van as Parker carried the unconscious man, he was quick to slide open the back door for the other, before climbing back up into the front seat. Once Parker was back in, he was quick to get out of there before reinforcements arrived. “It’s not far,” he muttered, almost constantly checking the mirrors to make sure they wouldn’t be followed. He chose the location very carefully, making sure that no one would be within hearing distance and it wasn’t too far to risk their guy waking up.

“I’ve got a chair bolted to the floor in the basement,” he explained as he pulled into the warehouse, having cleared out enough room for him to park earlier. Once he stopped and turned off the van, he went back and closed the warehouse door, just to make sure no one could see the vehicle easily from the outside. As usual, it was obvious he planned far in advance. “Need help getting him down there?”

“You’ve been working out,” Adler stated simply, and he took a moment to let his gaze wander over the muscles that hadn’t really been there when they last met. Quickly he refocused, finding Parker far more distracting that he’d ever admit. Following Parker and the pokemon downstairs, he merely stood back and observed as their mark was secured in place.

Soon the yelling started, and his expression didn’t change at all as he moved forwards, delivering a swift and harsh backhand across the man’s cheek to get his attention. “Listen. We know you’re aware of some rats in Galactic, and you’re going to tell us who they are,” he sounded so goddamn sure of himself, bending over slightly to look their captive in the eye. In response, the man proceeded to spit on his face. Adler didn’t even flinch as the warm substance hit his cheek, bringing a steady hand up to wipe the saliva away slowly, like he wasn’t in any rush.

“Parker, I think he’d like to get acquainted with your relic,” Addie mused aloud as he took a step back to give the brunette plenty of room, not even pissed enough to strike the man again in retaliation for the spitting. As always, he seemed to not give a damn.