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[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

Mathias did not mention how he had lost his hand. It had been a tribute to prove loyalty and once loyalty was proven the group that demanded the tribute had grown it back. A one handed servant was no use to them. One who could keep the secret was thought. "When was that last time I received a pleasant welcoming anywhere? I have betrayed all sides. There are still splinter groups of Providence and the Dominion that haven't gotten my updated allegiances. If what we need is in the archives, that is where we will go to get it." Mathias pointed out. "But you are right. He could have told you more and chose not to. We can't assume why though. Black has never been straightforward."

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

Even before Mathis had gone over to the Dominion, Lexi couldn't think of a time when he'd received a pleasant welcome. Friends had been few and far between. Especially after Sacramento. It wasn't getting an update on his allegiances that was the issue for most, but she decided to keep that thought to herself. "With a plan in place, I don't suppose I can convince you to let the doctor give you something for the pain?" She had a feeling he'd turn it down, given he'd already laid out his plan to begin work with his new arm. Any medication that could even take the edge off having his arm chopped off would see him back in bed.

✬Feb 4 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

"As long as it is just for the pain, fine." Mathias figured it would be enough to keep Lexi quiet about how he should have taken the pain medications if he actually did take them. Besides, it wasn't as if his arm didn't hurt and medication could help with that. Mathis was just worried it would also addle his other senses and make him less useful but they didn't really have anywhere to go that required his immediate focus. It would take a while to get to the archives once they were let out of the hospital.

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

"I'll see what they have. I'll be in the next room if you need anything else." Lexi didn't have very much confidence they would have anything which would meet Mathis's requirements, but she would leave that for Mathis and the doctor to work out. She didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. Not just for herself, but for Mathis too. He needed time to process everything, free from interference from others. Even herself. While she wanted whatever was best for Mathis, she knew her own opinion of what would be best for him was coloured by her own life experiences. She would try to guide him as best she could but knew it was important for him to decide when and with what she was involved in. It would do little good to try to argue with him about how she thought it was foolish that he wouldn't simply have his hand healed when they returned. A few hours or even days wouldn't change anything - or so she thought. She did pause at the door before leaving and look back at him. "I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but you got this Mathis." She figured her comment would be met with skepticism or even derision at the moment, but she hoped he would find it helpful going forward. Then she was gone, off to find the doctor.

For Lexi, the day and night was largely spent either sleeping or eating, her body desperately trying to make up for the large amount of energy she had expended prior. The few hours she was awake she spent trying to prepare some kind of report. Would they accept the explanation that they had to move before they lost track of their lead? She didn't think they would exactly be pleased she had simply taken Mathis's word for it, rather than ask for any kind of evidence. Trust with him was hard to come by. But as the saying went, easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Things went better than Lexi expected though. They were met with a security detail on the tarmac, but the interview ended with a little more than a slap on the wrist. Mostly it involved being berated for failing to kill Concussion and being told if they had brought more than themselves they might have succeeded. In the end, they had been the first to injure a founder in a major way and it was difficult to punish the pair for that, even if it wasn't said directly.

And so, it was a few hours and one stop at the medical ward later that Lexi found herself down in the archives. Down was literal. Technopaths existed on both sides and it became simply safer to abandon electronic documents and return to the era of physical data. In the bowels of the Providence building, in a vault-like room, Lexi began their search. She didn't expect Mathis to arrive for a while yet, but couldn't help but wonder what they were making of his personality shift. Or if Black had reported anything. Hopefully, she would have something helpful by the time Providence was done with him. Either way, when he did come he'd find her sitting cross-legged on the floor with a couple of open boxes nearby and some files scatter on the floor.

✬Feb 4 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews
The return to Providence was far less pleasant for Mathis than for Lexi. They'd been treated to a slap on the wrists but he still got the same hateful stares that he used to get. The same stares he would always get. Mr. Black wouldn't have said anything to anyone because of then photo he gave the duo. He didn't want to set another person in their path accidentally and so he had been silent. Mathis was as well. He didn't say much to anyone and let Lexi do the talking until they were separated.

He'd been taken to the medical wing where he was all but told that none of the healers wanted to give him his hand back. Not that he cared, he expected as much and while he hadn't told Lexi that part of him wanted to keep the ice hand because he knew the Providence healers would react that way. So he returned to his room, put on a new suit, and went down to see Lexi. "Find anything?" Mathis said as the elevator opened to the vault-like room.

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

She felt Mathis before she saw or heard him. The presence of someone else approaching. Lexi looked up from the papers in her hand just before the elevator doors started to slide open, revealing Mathis within. Through all the permutations of Mathis, the deep red colour never changed, nor the lighter orangish-yellow the intermingled with it. His base traits that not even the Dominion could change. Strong-willed, survival and detail-oriented, grounded and intelligent. It was the ones surrounding them, that were more troubling. Bright yellow and red, dark green and blue. Colours she hoped would have lessened once they reached D.C. Fear, anger, stress and insecurity. All of it made sense of course, but it didn't make looking at it any more pleasant. If she could take it all away she would. The problem was she didn't know. She only knew their only option was to keep pushing forward.

She rose from the floor with two pieces of paper and walked towards him. "It seems this isn't the first time we've gone after Tremor. The report has few details though. According to this, he didn't show and we simply returned. The wording is a little off though." At least in Lexi's report, it didn't seem quite like how she would describe things. She offered the pages to Mathis. Both their reports on the days surrounding the date on the photograph Black had given Mathis.

✬Feb 5 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

Mathis took the report in his gloved hand and opened it. He read over the pages briefly and then looked up at Lexi. "A little off I guess. I can't really account for myself." Mathis had had his mind fuddled with so many times since then he wasn't sure he could really consider the way he wrote now a credible example of how he had always written. "Though I suppose the grand question still stands. Why don't we remember it?" Mathis flipped through the pages once more and then held it back out to Lexi. "Short of going where the file says we went, what do you think we should do?"

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

Lexi took the paper from Mathis and set to work putting everything back in the boxes as they had been before. Her reasoning for returning the file in questions would become clear shortly. "Unfortunately, that is the only idea I have at the moment. It is a tenuous string to hope going there will cause us to remember, but at this point, we cannot be certain Providence wasn't involved." Meaning she felt they should keep this to themselves at the moment. Though she wondered how their superiors would feel about them going on a second unverified trip. "How do you feel about manufacturing some intel to get us in the general area with Providence's permission?"

✬Feb 5 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

It was hard to tell if the grim expression of Mathis's face was because he was thinking so hard for a solution that his face could form no other shape, or if it was that was because he did not believe there was any chance they'd remember what happened. His mind had been altered enough to know that when something was gone, it was generally gone for good. The best you could get after was an approximation. "We might not even have to. I'm sure there are plenty of low level issues in the area we could convince them to let us deal with. We go and investigate the picture, then we clean up whatever threat we told them we would?" Mathis proposed.

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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Deadly_Tiger

 

[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

The irony that Mathis had suggested they find a real case while Lexi had suggested fabricating evidence was not lost on Lexi. "It sounds like we have a plan." She nodded while putting the lid back on both boxes. She slid one back onto the empty spot on the shelf, then stood holding the other. M and D weren't exactly close in the alphabet. "How would you feel about getting some lunch with me? There is something else I need to discuss with you."

✬Feb 5 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

"Sure." Mathis replied in a familiar monotone. He still felt a little odd about the more mundane tasks of day to day life like eating meals with others, let alone with people he has complicated relationships with like Lexi. But she wanted to discus something and that statement created an intrigue in Mathis that he could not ignore or deny. So he was more than willing to go with Lexi. "Where do you want to go?"

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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Deadly_Tiger

 

[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

"Meet me at Rock Creek Park?" She asked. A somewhat unorthodox choice for lunch. The food itself would likely be limited to hot dogs, corn dogs or some other meal that was food cart friendly. Those options would be limited more than normal, given it was early February. Lexi had her reasons though, beyond her natural affinity for the outdoors. A place where it would be less likely they would be overheard, compared to a crowded restaurant. A neutral territory where either one of them could leave, perhaps avoid home turf advantage to some degree or be an invader into Mathis's space. All in all, the quality of food had been rather far down her list when it came to her consideration of where to go.

✬Feb 5 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

Mathis nodded to Lexi's choice without saying anything about it. He wasn't putting as much thought into the location as she was in terms of neutral ground. He was more concerned with is he remembered and Dominion holdouts in the area they needed to be wary of. Too often these days you went out for a simple lunch and some villain with powers showed up to ruin the time... or enhance it if that was your kind of thing. In most cases Mathias actually enjoyed the combat... then he remembered. "Not a popular choice for food but I'm sure we can find something."

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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Deadly_Tiger

 

[Deadly_Tiger]

"As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books.Someone who fought for what was right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves."

Lexi Darksilver

Halo

"Great, I'll meet you there," Lexi told him with a soft smile and with that she headed off into the aisles of boxes to return the second one she had been holding her arms. The easy part was done, now for the hard part.

It would take Lexi about twenty minutes to reach the park. Luckily parking was easy, as the park didn't have many visitors this time of year. She exited the car wearing a coat and gloves, which was a bit odd since she had already proven she didn't need to wear them to withstand the cold. She didn't pay the few other people there much attention, besides a glance for hostile intentions, while she headed to the front entrance to wait for Mathis.

✬Feb 5 2013✬

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nine1122

 

[Nine1122]

Mathis Mathews

Lexi would have to wait for quite some time. Ten minutes passed with no notice and no Mathis. Then another five. Then her phone would buzz with a text message from Frost himself which read I've been standing at this hot dog cart for fifteen minutes, where are you? Mathis had arrived just a little bit earlier than Lexi and rather than wait at the entrance, he went in and found the nearest food place to wait at. There were here for lunch, right? He'd waited patiently because... well... he wasn't in a rush to eat a hot dog but fifteen minutes was unusually late for someone in their line of work.

Date: February 4, 2013 | Alias: Frost | Quirk: Right Arm from the Elbow Down is Made of Ice

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