Log: Remy/Nico

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Nico comes to talk to Remy, and makes a major decision.



Remy stood staring out the window of his office, sipping a cup of
coffee and contemplating the skyline. It was a rare lull in the day,
when he could let his mind roam and try to piece together the
intelligence they gathered into a larger picture to see what they
mean. There was always a hidden agenda, a plot, something waiting out
there for them that they could only detect by the fringes.

Nico knocked the door carefully, considering it polite to ask before
entering. She wasn't sure of what she was going to get out of this
meeting, but she knew it would be something that would probably change
a lot of things in the near future. Well, she was already there, so it
was too late to run away, right?

"Come in." Remy said, not turning away from his view. He'd expected
Nico sooner or later, although he wondered if she really grasped what
the next few minutes would involve, and how the decisions that she'd
make would affect her. The joy of hindsight, he supposed, finally
turning to reseat himself behind his desk.

Nico entered the room, looking around before setting her eyes on
Remy's back. "So, you called me." It was a statement, and Nico felt
incredibly silly after saying it out loud, but she was at a loss of
words at the moment. "And I guess this has to do with the mail, so..."

“Sit.” Remy said, as he refilled his mug from his new coffee maker. It
had turned up anonymously on his desk; a quiet apology for his old
one. "How long you been here now, Nico"

"Um, not really that much?", said as she sat. "Just a month and a
little more actually." Whether that was a good or a bad thing, she
couldn't tell right away.

"Hmm." He said, sipping his coffee and staring at her over the rim
with his strange eyes. "So what is it dat you think you can accomplish
here?"

Nico couldn't help but shrug. "Honestly? I am not entirely sure. I
mean, I've been helping with the books and with more menial tasks, but
I know that's not all there is to it. And even after the last slip up
I don't think I can just claim that I'm prepared to suit up and go on
an undercover mission or something..." Nico shrugged again, albeit
slower than before.

"But I could learn?"

"Probably. Dis question is, why would you want to?"

Nico remained silent for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not
entirely okay with what goes on here...but I can understand the
reasoning. I have no desire to turn into some super-efficient killing
machine or anything." She wasn't entirely enthusiast about the idea of
killing! "But there are some things that have to be done, right? It's
not about being comfortable, but stepping up to the circumstances."
And then she went silent for a little longer. "I guess...I just want
to be of use,"

"Dere's plenty of places dat you can be of use wit'out being here."
Remy said. "I'm not going to lie to you, Nico. Staying here, working
wit' us; it means dat you going to be faced wit' a lot of bad choices.
De kind dat you not going to find easy to let gone once dey done. You
going to find youself in positions dat you going to have to do things
dat you likely promised youself dat you'd never do. And de only people
who will ever know what you've sacrificed to do what has to be done
are in dis building. Most of de rest will consider you something
twisted, maybe even evil."

"I know, alright? I have grown out the time where things like justice
and wrongdoing where complete opposites. And I have already made
decisions I thought I never would." Nico snorted at the last part
though, incapable of holding back her reaction. "You know who I am,
and what some crazy witch wants me to be. What I do...most magic users
probably see me as something twisted and evil already. And far from
being self-pitying, that only means I already have chosen a path;
whether it lays here or somewhere else, I don't know. I would like it
to be here, personally."

"Dis isn't about you path wit' magic, Nico. Staying here, signing on,
means closing off most of you other options in life. Accepting dat an
early, unmarked grave is de likely outcome. And knowing dat one day,
for de sake of a job, you be told to kill, or fuck, or destroy de life
of someone because dats de best way to get things done. You think you
know what it means?" He shook his head slowly, eyes intense. "You
haven't faced even a shadow of it yet. Dis doesn't have to be you
life."

"Well, you can't actually send me to fuck anybody, because that kills
people. Trust me, I've tried." Her attempt to ease the mood...didn't
really go that well, but Nico at least said something in return, and
hoped it would possibly make her win some time. It was hard to argue
with somebody that was giving her all the good reasons, and Nico
actually agreed with Remy.

"...you care", said as if she had just realized that. "You care, you
know? About me. Amanda cares too, and the people that work here...they
might be a lot of things, but they are those things because at the end
of the day they care about others. I know you are trying to drive me
away, and I know I'm too young to make a serious decision about
something like this." Nico stood, hands on the desk, gaze on him.

"I can't promise I won't regret it, nor that I won't make mistakes and
horrible choices. I guess you can't also send me to make a convincing
defense about anything, heh." Lowering a bit her head, Nico gathered
her courage so she could keep on looking up. This wasn't the time to
be intimidated. "The only thing I can promise is that I will give the
best of me for the sake of making a difference. I don't need to be
recognized for it; it's been a while since I decided I wasn't hero
material anyway. Plus, things being like they are, chances are I'll
get tangled into another mess sooner or later, and I would like to be
better prepared to deal with it when it happens."

"And what happens de day dat Remy tells you dat you going to destroy
an innocent person's life because dey just happen to be in de wrong
place or have de bad luck to have a connection to something dat we
need to stop something worst? When dere's nowhere to hide and it's
just you having to look in dere eyes and walk away and leave dem to
suffer or die."

"I trust your judgement. Not to mention I trust mine." That was really
all that was to say about it. "Jeez, have you really done this to the
others? I mean, it should feel pretty weird after a while to have
people asking you to give them the chance to do horrible things and
probably ruin their lives somehow." No she wasn't missing the point,
what the hell.

"I do it because in most ways, this is an awful life. Remy didn't get
a choice, and now, I've been to de point dat dis in de only way dat I
know how to live." He said quietly. "Take a look at Marie-Ange, or
Doug, or 'manda. See who dey were de year before dey started and who
dey are now. You won't recognize them in dere old lives. So dats why
Remy's recruitment speech is to do my best to make you say 'no' and go
live a happy, safe life somewhere. Because any hope of having dat
disappears de day you come through dat door as an member of dis team.
You still sure dat you want dis?"

Falling back to her chair, Nico crossed a leg over the other. "I'll
probably feel bad about this later, but trust me, I'm sure this is
what I want. If anything, it's the most I can do to ensure the people
I care can have that happy, safe life you talk about." She then
crossed her arms. "And that's about all I'm saying on the matter, you
decide what's to be done."

Remy sat silent for a long moment, regarding her with his odd eyes.
Finally, he nodded and leaned forward, reaching for a pad of paper.
"From dis point on, you going to have a lot more duties den just
'manda's side of de shop. For now, you going to also work wit'
Marie-Ange and North wit' dere overflow. It won't be dat different, in
terms of de duties, but I want you to pay attention to what you filing
and how both of dem put together pieces of intelligence and start to
make connections. Also, you going to need to have Doug set you up wit'
what he calls 'Spy 101'. It's a collection of books, files, and
information dat Betts, Pete and I put together for de others when dey
first came on board. You can study it at night."

He handed over a page with some scrawls on it for Doug. "You also
going to be going out once a week wit' Jubilee for de local pickups.
It's a safe, milk run, but pay attention to what she does and how she
does it. Once you're comfortable dere, we can ease you into more field
work. You'll also up you hand to hand in de Danger Gym wit' 'manda and
Doug. And we'll start some sessions wit' a weapon. You got a staff -
time dat you know how to use it for something else den spells."

She took the page and gave it a quick look, but mostly kept her
attention on the man. Did shit just get serious? She was definitely
sure it had. "Gotcha. Let's see if I have what it takes, then."

"If you don't, you won't live long enough to realize it." Remy said,
relinquishing the page. "Take de rest of today off. If you change you
mind, you can still walk away right up until dat Doug puts you into de
system. After dat, you better prepare youself for what's coming
because it's going to be a hard, dangerous road you taking."

Biting a witty remark, Nico nodded and stood. "Despite what I
said...you won't regret this. Um, see ya around, boss." And before the
man could say something else, the girl bolted out of the room.