revival // c

naomi reindhardt was slowly losing her mind.

days and days before she figured of reid's promotion, and long before their engagement or her promotion, she was standing in the abandoned warehouse at oreburgh having just woken up in the middle of the night. she had been dreaming odd dreams lately, though the warehouse didn't help. she had been given night patrol, but ended up telling the rest of the grunts to go home because for one, she didn't like company, and two, she didn't need much help because she doubted there was going to be some kind of break in.

but then she heard the sound a lock shattering, and her eyelids flew open. had she made a mistake? no... this could not have been predicted. there was no one in the warehouse except her. no one had been assigned this place but her. which meant the person across the warehouse was an enemy. transitioning in seconds from sleepy to wide awake, naomi's hand moved quietly and quickly to her belt, the small, jet black shotgun finding its way into her gloves.

the person is walking. she observed from the shadows, waiting for her moment to come. his stance isn't strong, but he might be troublesome to take down. she's reluctant to just kill him, but firing the gun is something she can do. she can probably get a limb down to slow movement and take care of it from there.

the man passes her spot in the darkness, and takes another step forward, walking almost painfully out in the open.

she steps outside and flips the safety at the same time, moving effortlessly behind the man so he doesn't get the chance to see her. nyx isn't taking any risks tonight. the barrel is pointed effortlessly at his back, and she won't hesitate to

"who are you?" she asks, but she already knows that he won't know the correct answer to that one. he's not a rocket. she can practically smell that much, so he won't know what passcode to answer her with. but she asks it anyway, because that is the question regardless.

i am the summer breeze. she almost wills him to say it and fulfill the passcode verification, but he doesn't. it takes all she can not to shoot him for his audacity, but naomi's not very quick to anger. that being said, she's also at the limit of her patience for the day and she can only hope that this boy won't test her further. because no one misses strangers who wander into rocket territory, especially not when their bodies are never found, and missing for a day drags on to lost forever. but she suppresses those thoughts and instead regards the boy with a raised eyebrow.

she can't see him clearly, but there's a shaft of moonlight in front of them. "wrong answer," she informs half heartedly, never once lowering the gun. "no. walk into the light first. i want a clear look at you. then you can turn around." naomi doesn't like repeating herself, and expects to be complied. the authority in her tone is practiced; though she's not really the person to enjoy using it, it doesn't show.

given that the boy follows through --if not she'll likely just go for the abdomen to make things simpler-- she breathes out and calms herself down. "it looks like you know where you are, boy." he's not an ordinary trainer, she can tell that much. even for a man at gunpoint, he's far too clam. which makes him more suspicious. but it also rules out the possibility of s silly teen wandering around in the middle of the night. it makes him less of a nuisance and more of a threat.

"don't shoot? give me a reason not to." naomi watches him and takes in his features, wondering where she's seen him before. liam summers. does the name ring a bell? she can't be sure. she just hopes he's not a troublemaker.

"oh?" she asks, genuinely amused at his answer. not enough to really crack a smile, but enough to make her reconsider her temptation to end the little midnight encounter. he wants to help them take down galactic. that seems understandable, considering all the things the organization had been doing to terrorize the region up until this point. burning a whole town down, now that was harsh. he lists his crimes and naomi's eyes only narrow in displeasure.

"...that liam summers, then."

it clicks. he's a wanted fugitive she's heard of well enough, and according to source he is affiliated with galactic. or rather, was. this was an interesting, if not troublesome turn in events. but there's no reason to pretend to be a murderer, there's not reason he would have waited this long if he truly was out to kill her or raise a ruckus. and yet...

"let's say i believe you and you really have switched sides." it doesn't sit well with her. call her picky, but naomi's not about to let an inch of her guard down despite the random and seemingly authentic propositions laid down by the man. besides, he can't prove his identity. and there's another detail that nags her.

"what use do you think rocket has of turncoats, liam?" she asks, tone as cold as ice. the unspoken question she means to ask, though, is simply this: is the information you have truly worth a breach in security? a loose canon out for nothing but revenge? that's dangerous and a foolish thing to accept, regardless. but then again, naomi's probably not in a position to kill him if he really is liam summers and what he's telling is the truth. revenge is such a fickle thing, but the hollow look in the man's eyes is something she cannot deny. she only wishes that people wouldn't get so caught up with stupid, dark desires like vengeance...

ah. but there's a reason naomi prefers passion to quietness, a reason that makes people turn to anger and harsh words sooner than neutrality and diplomacy. and that reason is that you can't fake anger, nor hide raw emotion. you can't create the genuine effect that true anger, true desire leaves on your body. and naomi knows all the signs. the steadily raising tone of voice, the look as though he can't hold something back. it's genuine.

but in the end, it's not loyalty. the man before her doesn't care about rocket, it's plain to see. but she can't blame him. vengeance, like so many other things, is only one thing that team rocket is very capable of granting. she's seen it with her own eyes, all the ludicrous reasons that people join up and put everything on the line. who is she to judge? the final word bends her resolve, and naomi sighs.

"very well. you can't fake emptiness, i'll give you that. your loss in genuine, and so is, therefore, your offer." she's confident in her judgement. nyx after all, hasn't once made a wrong call in matters of the heart. at least, she thinks as much. the tension in the room slowly begins to disappear. "as for the terms of our agreement, liam, i'm afraid those will have to be handled by my supervisor."

she removes one hand from her shotgun and flips a pokeball down from her belt, a white light exploding, but the revealing little more than a murky shape in the darkness and a set of glowing, INTIMIDATING eyes. "watch him," she instructs, as she removes a small mobile phone from the inside of her coat. the gun remains in on hand, though it's no longer pointed at the boy. instead, mycah's gaze will have to do the threatening.

"hello? it's nyx. asset #4 has been located and secured. current location is tempest warehouse, oreburgh. over." the line clicks, and naomi turns to look at liam, the sad shadows of a smile on her face. she pauses, trying to find the right words. "revenge can ruin the soul beyond all repair," are the words of wisdom she's left to offer, and she does so willingly even knowing that they might as well be fallen on ears that had already been sown tight.

she blinks and looks up at him as soon as the call ends. "did you honestly think you were?" that sort of naivety was more befitting of a child than a murderer, and naomi can't help but wonder fleetingly about the boy-- how old he is, where he comes from. it vanishes in an instant though. she doesn't have the luxury of getting to close with someone like summers. "i'm sorry, liam," she says, and the apology sounds almost profoundly genuine. "but you aren't, and you won't be the last." it's the truth, and she can't coddle him or hide it from him. rocket's connections are ever expanding, and they'd picked out more than enough potentials before invading the region, having sent scouts like herself and lucas months before in preparation.

she frowns at his casual dismissal, wondering if he'll get involved in something dangerous too soon again. but that's okay. people like him, at least the ones she'd met never had long lifespans...or even pleasant ones. the thanks she receives is met with a nod. "your welcome." not like she should be on the receiving end of the kindness, but naomi knows her game of debt and favors well by now. it's hard to avoid, so she goes with it.

she pauses at his request. his was already out in the open, so she supposed it was okay. "nyx. they call me nyx." she looks behind her shoulders, almost apprehensively at the doorway. "it might be too soon for me to say, but welcome to team rocket..." she doesn't outstretch her hand, but leaves warmth in her words all the same. her eyes trace all over the blonde's body before resting on the hand inside his pocket.

she smiles ruefully upon seeing his hesitant stance, though there is little mirth to be displayed. "do you not trust me? ...i suppose that's understandable..." her voice wanders, as they're both forced into a simple stalemate, awaiting the arrival of a rocket admin.

it was more of wayward comment to get him to move his hand away from his pocket without having to use the gun again, but the boy seems to take it as a question, and responds in a dark and dreary tone that makes naomi wonder vaguely what he had to go through. "..." she responds with silence, because she feels that's more comforting than anything else that could be said. nothing else needs to be said.

naomi pauses at his next question, pondering the answer to that herself. "you will likely be asked to give up any weapons or pokeballs on you and escorted to the current headquarters, most likely while blindfolded." rocket, at least, its branch in sinnoh, was still in a state of infancy. they could expect no risks at all, especially not for an outsider with alleged ties to galactic. she lets the words sink in before continuing.

"your possessions will likely be given back though, as long as you're determined more useful with them in tact." but at the same time, it would be a moment of total vulnerability for liam, no to mention a little humiliation. then again, it really depended on the nature of which admin exactly came to greet them. naomi wondered what lengths this boy was willing to go to in order to get revenge, and the idea tossed and turned itself around her mind.

"but really, these are all my presumptions. i can't make any guarantees." on your safe treatment, on anything.

footsteps of grunts can be heard outside, and naomi risks a glace backwards. the doors swing open....