1 | video

[goodcop]

[cue a giant close up of THIS BEAUTIFUL FACE followed by trilling "Parrrrrrras" sound. there's a shifting noise which alarms the bug and it hops out of view.

Cybil wakes up with a start, sitting bolt upright, clutching her face with her hands. she looks visibly shaken as she pulls trembling hands away from her face and looks at them.]

What...happened?

[she sounds out of breath. the camera feed shakes a bit as the Paras nudges it and Cybil looks up, spotting the Pokemon and her Gear. she gives the bug a strange, almost alarmed look and hesitates before brushing it off to the side as she reaches for the 'gear. she notices that it's recording.]

I'm here again. Don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing...I don't even know if I'm alive, dead, or dreaming. But...the room's different this time around.

[something flutters off the bed and onto the ground, and Cybil picks it up. it's the note given to all Rocket Grunts, of course! she furrows her brow as she reads it, and there's a moment of agitated/confused silence.]

They got the wrong woman. I'm no criminal.

Comments

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

[Cybil's trying to look happy. but forgive her, it's a bit difficult. she is keeping up a strong facade though.]

I don't think it was that long on this end.

[of course, being possessed and dying can warp your reality. she looks back down at the note.]

I'm...not sure.

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather's starting to catch onto that-- and accordingly, her smile turns a little more subdued.]}

Here-- try pointing the camera around a bit. Maybe I'll be able to tell.

_{[No, she won't-- she's never been to Mahogany. But the unfamiliar surroundings might clue her in a little.]}

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

[Cybil should just be used to being out of the loop, though she really dislikes being the one caught off-guard. but, she likes Heather and trusts Heather, so she nods and turns the camera around the room.

looks like your standard Rocket Grunt room, nothing special, though Heather probably doesn't recognize the inside.]

I think I'm in Team Rocket's headquarters. I got a letter.

[in reality it's a note BUT I WANTED TO MAKE A REFERENCE OKAY?

she points the camera down to the skittish-looking Paras cowering in the corner of the rather dull room.]

And this...thing.

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[And y'know what? Heather likes and (tentatively) trusts Cybil, too-- which is pretty big, considering both of their positions. From her days as Alessa being privately taught to scorn the nonbelievers and not bring unwanted attention onto the cruelties of the cult, to Heather's own rowdy childhood, she'd been more or less hardwired not to trust a badge. But screw all that. Birds of a feather, man-- even if Cybil didn't survive the town that takes all, they're on the same side.]}

Team Ro--... dude, seriously?

<sub>[Heather sounds sort of alarmed-- she's talked to a few (unwilling) Rockets before, but this is the first time she's ever directly known somebody who's shown up in those headquarters.]

[And HEY CYBIL YOU'RE NOT JAMES but I still lol'd]</sub>

And-- whoa, that's kinda...

_{[... A little creepy, even for Heather, and she LIKED bugs. It was something about those mushrooms...]}

No dog this time, huh?

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

If what this piece of paper says is true, then yes.

[she holds up the note with a big bright red R.]

I don't think I'll be staying here for long, though.

[YEAH THE MUSHROOMS ARE KIND OF. IFFY ON CYBIL'S PART TOO.]

To be honest, I kind of miss the dog. [at this, the Paras seems a bit crestfallen despite being too nervous to approach its trainer.] This one's a bit...unsettling.

[Video]

[foolishwren]

... Jeez. They really DON'T care who they drag into that crap, do they?

_{[But of course, Heather's determined little mind has already arrived at a plan.]}

Don't worry, we'll get you out! ... Or-- ... keep 'em away from you once you ARE out!

_{[Who's 'we', Heather?]}

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

Apparently not, seeing as I'm a part the opposing force.

[not to mention one of the few non-corrupt cops out there /sob.

but yeah, who is 'we'?]

...we?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[At the question, a great big grin stretches across the girl's face. She's got a smiley sort of face to begin with-- she's certainly not one of those people who look out-of-place when they're happy. But there is something about how happy she looks right now that's stronger and more genuine than any smile she's worn in Cybil's presence previously.]}

Dad's here.

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

[oh man that smile...Cybil's good at reading people's expressions, and she knows that she's never seen that smile on Heather's face before. Cybil smiles back. after being, well, basically an audience to that whole thing, the fact that Heather has her dad here, and that Harry has his daughter here.

well, Cybil's never got to reunite with lost parents. let's just say she knows.]

He is?

[she smiles back.]

And you met up with him?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[It's a very different smile than the smirks and tooth-baring grins she wears so often-- and it fits her face better.]}

Went all the way back to Violet to get him! ... Even though I said I wasn't gonna go back there ever, but ehhh, details.

We're in Goldenrod-- er-- well, we WERE in Goldenrod-- we're goin' to Olivine right now but we'll probably be heading back there soon-- that city's a good place to disappear.

_{[... She's not going to talk about how she knows that.]}

You could get away from those creeps there like-- _{[She snaps her fingers.]}

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

[it definitely does. Heather should smile like that more.

and she nods as the memories of Violet and what she read in the archives of the PokeCenter slowly return to her.]

A good place to disappear, huh?

[a pause. from what she remembers, Goldenrod's a pretty happening place for this universe.]

Most big cities are like that.

[and hearing Heather's confidence in her makes her smile once again.]

I've honestly had enough of my share of creeps for the year.

[lolololololol Dahlia.]

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[She likely will be from this point onward-- having her father back made an incredible difference.]}

Yeah. Biggest city I've seen so far, and it's pretty easy to lie low if you don't wanna be found.

_{[Of course, her grin turns a little bit sympathetic at that last bit.]}

Yeah, uh... sorry about... y'know, all that.

_{[MOM IS KIND OF A BITCH. GOOD THING SHE LIKE. DIED.]}

[Video]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

[she gives Heather a slightly knowing look.]

Sounds like an ideal place.

[she waves it away. sympathy wasn't really needed, but yeah...Dahlia. IT'S TOO BAD CYBIL KIND OF HAD TO DIE TOO /sob]

Around here, it's all in the past.

[though back home, it's the present....for like, other people.]

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Because Heather SO HASN'T NEEDED to lie low before. Cough.]}

Truer words never spoken, I guess.

... S'good to have you back.

_{[Maybe this time, she'd get a chance to know her dad's old pal a bit better. She wants to make sure of that.]}