BANG! BANG! BANG!
---
The noise echoed violently around the room, causing even seasoned vetrans to flinch as the gun spat out it's deadly venom. Behind the trigger was none other than Raelin Lorcan, practicing her skills so as to better fend off her attackers. Her dark hair was pulled back her shirt open at the collar and wrinkled after a long night at the office. Her pants were classic black with grey pinstripes as her perfectly polished shoes gave her an added height. A woman that killed in highheels was not someone you wanted to mess with.
---
As always she didn't smile. Raelin didn't have much to smile about these days, which was odd since her former lover was walking around the halls of MSI now that the alliance had been created. Yet her mood had gotten much darker it seemed since that day.
---
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
---
She emptied her clip and pressed the button that sent her paper target zooming towards her. She ripped it down without another thought and reloaded her clip. The other members stared at the cluster of holes neatly centered around the chest area. "It's not good enough," she snapped without looking up, just knowing that they were confused. She set up another target and walked back to her area, sending the target far away from her.
---
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
---
The training continued.
---
She just wasn't in a good mood today, she'd had a crappy night's sleep, curtesy of Drake and Alika whom she had seen together AGAIN. So she had holed herself up in her office going over files, finally falling asleep at her desk, only to wake up because of a nightmare AGAIN. That would have been alright except that there was no coffee in the break room this morning so she was tired and when she was tired she was pissy, and she wanted coffee. She reloaded her clip and continued.

Her skirt that hung just past her knees swished as Danae made her way from the Medical Wing where she had been conversing with another resourcer back to the Hall of Records where she spent the greater part of her days.

Most often, she could be found, scouring page after page to be fully prepared when it came time to go out into the field with Raelin and Marcus, acting as their ever-faithful resourcer. After all, it only made sense that the Head Resourcer for MSI would accompany the Lead Investigators in their cases, right?

As she passed by the entrance to the training grounds, she heard the fury of gunfire and raised an eyebrow. All the shots were a good second on the draw of all the others, and Danae knew, almost instantly, that only one person could fire off rounds like that without the cry of a misfire resounding afterwards.

Poking her head inside, she saw the slim figure of Raelin standing there, shoulders straight and arms extended as she fired off yet another round. Leaving her books by the door, Danae picked up a spare gun that lay their for simple practice and made her way into the room to stand beside Raelin.

Noticing the rumpled shirt and that dark look in her eyes, Danae gave a slight shake of her head, brushing her hair from her eyes in the process, then raising the gun in her hand to aim and fire. The weapon, not her own, felt strange within her grasp and it took a moment before she could adjust.

As she fired, hitting her target, she lowered the weapon, then looked over at Raelin. "I'd suggest sparring next, but it'd only take one of those looks to kill..." she commented, good-naturedly of course as she gave Raelin a hint of a smile. The woman was like the sister she never had, after all. Even if they were nearly exact opposites in every way.

Raelin put down her empty gun and looked over at Danae. "So good of you to put down your books and join me," she muttered with a humorless smile. "And sparring of course, is out of the question, in current mood I'm afraid that I'd kill you." she stated quite seriously as she picked up her gun again and moved away, caressing it gently.
---
Raelin hadn't had a decent relationship in a long time. Marcus and Anthony teased her mercilessly that she was in a torrid love affair with her gun, her pen and her coffee mug. If anyone could see the way Raelin's graceful hands and fingers caressed the spotless metal object as she took it apart to thoroughly clean it, they'd be forced to agree. Her gaze softened as her fingertips brushed over the stainless steel and when she encountered a spot she painstakingly scrubbed it away.
---
“How is your day going?” she asked softly, not bothering to turn around and look at Danae, she knew she was still there. “Perfect,” she sighed as she held up the now clean gun as she put it back together and loaded it, stringing it on her hip.

Emptying the remaining few shots in the clip, Danae made her way over to Raelin and set the gun down, putting it back in its resting place where she had found it. Once again, she fathered the books in her arms and watched Raelin clean the gun.

“How is your day going?”

"Hmm?" she asked, having been rather amused at watching Raelin scrub the pistol to a shine. "Oh...Same as always. Training a newbie on the wonderful ways of resourcing, checking on the resourcer in the Medical Wing...You know how it is."

Danae smiled in spite of it all and shrugged. "Everything okay, Rae?" she finally asked, noting the rumpled shirt and red eyes for a second time. Danae lived at MSI, but that was the normal for her; Sometimes, though, she thought Raelin stayed there way too long, especially lately. Honestly, Danae was beginning to wonder if she ever slept at home anymore.

Raelin turned her bleary eyes onto Danae and shook her head. "I see them everywhere now, I swear Alika does it on purpose," she muttered. "I'm glad I don't know her at all so I can fantasize about her being an evil wench." she muttered. "Is it wrong to assume that once you love someone you can't have anyone else while that person is still alive?" she whispered. "I just don't know anymore, ignore me, I'm tired..." she muttered as she grabbed the door and yanked it open for Danae.
---
She rubbed her red eyes and yawned. "You're so busy, I didn't think you had time to come down and bother me," she smiled a little. "Don't you have rookies coming in soon?" she asked suddenly. "I think I heard another resourcer saying something about a decent line up, straight out of universities and the like."

"Is it wrong to assume that once you love someone you can't have anyone else while that person is still alive?"

Danae bit her lip thoughtfully, then shook her head. She shifted the books into one arm, and linked the other through one of Raelin's. ]"I don't think it's wrong..." she said quietly and shrugged. "But, I don't guess I'm the best one to be talking to about it. You know, my longest affair was with the anthology of Shakespeare in college," she told her and promptly grinned. No, Danae had never fallen in love, had never taken the time, and from looking at those around her that had, she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to fall into something like that or not. "I doubt Alika does it on purpose; she doesn't seem to be the vindictive type...but I know, just the same, that it must hurt like hell."

"Bother you? Don't you know that I take an hour out of every day to sufficiently annoy you?" she asked, pretending to be completely shocked, yet her tone was totally professional, as if she had a space allotted between 2 and 3 in the afternoon for annoying Raelin.

Ah, the rookies. Fresh meat of the intellectual persuasion that she would be responsible for for the rest of forever. Rather than voicing that, she nodded, thinking over the timeframe she had before they came in. "Yep...Another handpicked batch from Antony. Most of them are coming from the Universtity. There's a couple coming from some old analytical research facility that went under...Hopefully it'll be better than the last batch that couldn't hack it." She shuddered to remember the resourcers she had before. Only a quarter of them had made it, and the ones that had remained were put as strictly behind-the-scenes resourcers to keep themselves, and everyone else, out of harm's way.

Raelin nodded, not really listening to her answer since she was absorbed in thinking about how there had better be coffee in the break room or someone was going to get shot.
---
"Yep...Another handpicked batch from Antony. Most of them are coming from the Universtity. There's a couple coming from some old analytical research facility that went under...Hopefully it'll be better than the last batch that couldn't hack it." Rae winced, she'd heard about that from the others, she would never wish anything bad on Danae, not even a bad batch of resourcers.
---
When Raelin and Danae arrived at the small break room the refreshing aroma of coffee filled the air and Rae wasted no time in pulling down a pristine white procelin mug and filling it with the scalding black liquid. She clutched it in her hands and took a deep breath before drinking down almost half the mug. She gave a tiny shudder and then refilled her mug. Raelin had long since trained her body not to react to certain things, physical pain was one thing she'd always had a high tolerance for but had to school herself to resist emotional pain and mental pain. "Much better," she sighed as she leaned against the counter. "Rumor has it that Greer has someone he wants to put in for the position, some girl he met at the library, I doubt she'll make it though, Anthony might say yes for the sheer fact that Greer is such a good book keeper and I'm sure someone owes him a favor," she shrugged. "I think I'd like to see her try out..."
---
It was no secret between Rae and Danae that Rae had slept with Greer a few times, but as with everything in Rae's life it didn't pan out. Rae was never into the relationship anyway, she was starving for companionship and at that point anything was acceptable, that's why she had to forgive Greer for what he'd done, it wasn't as if she were innocent. She still held Greer in a deep fondness, one of the more closer friends she had besides Marcus and Danae. "Maybe I should get a pet or something..." she said out of the blue.
---
((ooc: bwahahaha like how i worked Renegade into that conversation???))

Following her into the breakroom, Danae opted for water, raising the bottle to her lips and taking a sip. While most around would have been shocked by Raelin downing the scalding hot coffee, Danae had seen it enough times to know that it was just another normal quirk for Lorcan.

"Rumor has it that Greer has someone he wants to put in for the position, some girl he met at the library, I doubt she'll make it though, Anthony might say yes for the sheer fact that Greer is such a good book keeper and I'm sure someone owes him a favor. I think I'd like to see her try out..."

Giving a slight nod, Danae hopped up onto one of the counters and situated her skirt around her legs. "I heard mumblings about it here and there, but Antony hasn't said anything to me yet...And neither has Greer. Of course, I haven't seen Bookworm in weeks, so I guess that could be one reason."

She shrugged, realizing that her response was more of a monologue than a comment, but Raelin was used to that. It was a side-effect of constant research. Danae was capable of nearly carrying on an entire conversation by herself; it was just another thing that made her so....Danae.

Raelin shook her head and sipped her coffee this time. "It doesn't matter either way because you're not allowed to be anyone's resourcer but mine," she smiled with a hint of firmness in her voice. With a deep sigh she eased herself into a chair and rubbed her weary eyes. "I think I might head home early today, I need a hot shower and a nap," she sighed as she rubbed the back of her sore neck. "You wanna get dinner tonight? I'm free."

Raelin was always free, she hadn't had a date in years, she gave herself a mental eyeroll, if she didn't stop comentating on her life she'd throw herself off the MSI roof. But it was true...Raelin placed her head with a soft thump on the cool table.

"It doesn't matter either way because you're not allowed to be anyone's resourcer but mine."

"Damn straight," Danae replied without missing a bit, her own firm nod following the statement. Since the day Raelin had been made an investigator and paired with Marcus, Danae had been their resourcer. They worked well together, and Antony knew that splitting them up would be one hell of a battle...Not that he ever would.

"You wanna get dinner tonight? I'm free."

Nodding again, Danae took another drink of the water, then capped the empty bottle. She tossed it into a trash can in the corner, ringing it from where she sat, and for a moment, raising her hands in the air as if she'd scored a goal. "Yeah, sure...The only thing waiting for me at home is a dying African Violet. Where we going?"

"Uh...dunno...what are you in the mood for?" she asked as she looked at her friend. "Personally Chinese sounds decent but I had that last night..." she sighed. "What about Greek?" she suggested. She stretched out and put her shoes on the table. The glossy leather shone in the flouresent light and Rae squinted a little as the light shone in her eyes.

((AH! I'm running out of ideas!!))

"Greek works. As long as they let me bring home the cute waiter instead of the leftovers," she said with a grin and a wiggle of her brows.

Hopping down from the counter, Danae walked over to Raelin and swatted her feet off of the table. "Now, go home. Get some sleep, then take a shower. You look like hell. And I'll tell Antony you died and will be back tomorrow."

Hoisting the books up again and holding them in her arms, Danae waited for Raelin to actually get up so that she could see her out the door. Danae wasn't entirely sure that Raelin would leave. That girl was sly, and she just might slip past Danae, and into her office to set to work again.

"I'll meet you at your place after work."

Raelin propbably did look like hell, she usually did these days. "Alright, alright, I'll go!" she muttered as she finished the rest of her coffee and rinsed her mug out in the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. "I have to clean house anyway," she shook her head.

Raelin decided that she would just leave her jacket and work here tonight, maybe she'd just go home and sleep off her funk and listen to her records, that always made her feel better. "Alright hun, see you tonight," Raelin reached over and yanked gently on a piece of Danae's hair before walking away, giving one last wave as she sauntered off.

Maybe she could fight Danae over that cute waiter later tonight...

Danae chuckled as Raelin tugged on her hair. For as long as she could remember, Raelin had been doing that to her, taking one of the curls and tugging as a way of goodbye, or hello, or, hey you, pay attention.

Shaking her head as Raelin made her way out of MSI, Danae gathered her books and headed back to her office within the Resourcer's Hall.

It would be nice, to go out with Raelin again, and get away from MSI that threatened to suffocate from time to time.