3198/Wintergreen, At Your Service

Wintergreen, At Your Service
Date of Scene:	02 September 2020
Location:	Slade Wilson's Suite - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	Thea Queen meets the informative Mr. William Wintergreen, and one way or another gets a taste of what she's in for training with the Terminator.
Cast of Characters:	Slade Wilson, Thea Queen

---

Slade Wilson has posed:
As warned, it is indeed just after dusk when the doorbell of Thea's apartment is rung. Behind it stands a distinguished gentleman...possibly late 50's or early 60's by the look of him, with a full head of silver hair, swept back out of his eyes, and a bushy silver moustache on a narrow, angular face. He's dressed in dark gray cargo pants, and a ribbed military-style sweater, despite the summer heat. A faint smile plays on his lips as he waits for the door to open.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's been waiting, pacing, drinking water to try and drown the butterflies in her stomach. It's a damned sight better than her falling back on alcohol in stressful times, and in the short time that she's been feeling better, she's been working on proteins. So, some of the weight she'd lost via detoxing has been regained.

The bell is a change; most of the time, others knock! Still, it's a strange sound her her ears, and it takes a moment or three before the sound of the deadbolts *click*, one at a time. The ever present chain across the door is still there, and when she opens the door, it's only by a few inches before she determines the provenance of her visitor.

"Hold on," and she closes the door a little to undo the chain before she can open the door more fully.

Thea's dressed in jeans, light pullover shirt and she has a jacket as a nod to the beginning of the chill to evenings. Her backpack is by the door, and she looks up at the man.

"He told me someone was coming."

Slade Wilson has posed:
"William Wintergreen, at your service. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Queen. I am Slade's valet, aide-de-camp, and on some days the only real friend he has left." The man speaks with a noticeable British accent, though the precise placement may be difficult...he sounds like he has a lot of different influences, but certainly closer to Queen's English than Cockney, and there's a dry but wry undercurrent to the words. "The particular service I'm providing tonight is Chauffeur, as it so happens. If you'll come with me? I only fed the meter the barest minimum."

Thea Queen has posed:
This.. this is something Thea can understand. They've had valets, cooks, even the occasional nanny when she was growing up, and each one of them trustworthy. It's part of the job description. She breathes a soft laugh and nods before, "A pleasure, Mr Wintergreen. I'll just get my backpack, and I'm ready."

Keys will be taken in order to lock up the place, but not before lights are turned off but for one in the back to continue the illusion someone is there. So begins that which she had said she wanted more than anything... to find her place in the world.

Slade Wilson has posed:
Wintergreen waits for Thea to collect her pack, and escorts her down to where an expensive SUV awaits. He doesn't seem picky about where she sits but regardless of where she seems to head he opens the door for her.

And once they're both inside with seat belts fastened, Wintergreen pulls out into an opening in traffic and they begin to make their way to an as-yet unknown (to Thea) destination.

"I would imagine you might have some questions." Wintergreen notes as they drive, his eyes attentive to the road and their surroundings, in a manner that indicates he's likely been trained as a professional driver in high-risk areas.

Thea Queen has posed:
Once again, it really isn't out of the norm for little rich girl to have the car door opened for her. It's not that Thea //expects// it, but apparently she was raised partially right in that she thanks him before sliding in to the seat, only to have the door closed behind her. Her backpack is on her lap, her phones shut off for the moment. She sits in silence for a moment, first looking out the window at the sights of the city before shifting her attention to the rearview mirror, before,

"How long have you known him?" It may give her some insight to the comment made in the apartment, 'only real friend he has left'.

Slade Wilson has posed:
"Right about thirty years, now." Wintergreen replies readily enough to Thea. "We served together. I didn't know him for his /entire/ military career, but I did know him for most of it."

The SUV turns, heading deeper into the city. "I can't tell you overmuch about what we did...classified information and all that. But in terms of generalities let's just say we were part of a very off-the-books special operations unit."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's listening, shifting her attention from the rear-view mirrow to the window outside, and back as she gets her answer.

She lets out a softly breathed chuckle and shakes her head. "No, I figure you can't. But.. what's he like? I mean.. you're friends. Married? Divorced? Kids?" Because her initial meeting with him? It was nothing but kind. "Is this normal of him? You know, to agree to help someone like me?" Because that is exactly what he's doing. Training, and in turn, it is helping her. It's something she sorely needs.

Slade Wilson has posed:
"He's a very complicated man." Wintergreen says quite seriously. "Divorced, three children, but only two of which currently survive. A son and a daughter. Different mothers. I was the Best Man at his wedding, and the man who got him to the hospital when his now ex-wife shot out his eye...not entirely without justification, I might add." He still sounds...quite serious about it. Not in that "I don't have a sense of humor" kind of way, but certainly in an "I'm not joking about this particular thing" kind of way.

"As for the normalcy of Slade's actions. I've long since stopped trying to determine what that mind of his is thinking until he tells me, and he's keeping much of his own counsel on you. He has trained others in the past with...mixed results, both personally and in terms of the skill level his students achieved." Wintergreen briefly glances to Thea as they wait at a stoplight, "But I can say that Slade has a very particular sense of honor, and if he feels he owes someone a debt he will go to great lengths to see it repaid, often with interest. Something that cuts both ways, as he is quite adamant about seeing any debts owed to him fulfilled, as well."

Thea Queen has posed:
Okay.. shot out his eye? Thea makes a face, and it's not hard to divine what the young woman is thinking. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, as it were. "I'm not entirely sure what that justification would be, so..." and the last word is drawn out just a little. "Yeah.."

Still, the information about family, kids, that gives her a little pause for thought before she just nods in the information, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip as she considers. Brows rise in that he's not said much about her to his 'only' friend, and there's a moment before, "He's probably the first person in my life who hasn't actually lied to me. What he'd said wasn't really pretty, and I.. didn't really have the best of reactions to it. So, I'm not really sure where I fit in all of that... if he thinks he owes me or my family, or if he's hedging his bets and hoping he can call in a favor later." When the time is right. But, either way? "Not something that will come up in conversation, I think. As far as I'm concerned, I'll owe him."

Slade Wilson has posed:
"She felt his mercenary activities, and more to the point keeping them secret from her, had endangered their children. Which is undeniably true. Their younger son very nearly lost his life for it, and actually did lose his voice. Permanently." Wintergreen clarifies. "Adeline is no less complicated than her husband. They were well-matched in just enough ways to make them both perfect and terrible for each other."

The SUV continues to amble along, slowed in places by the sheer volume of traffic. "His eldest boy...Grant...died some years later. Trying to follow in his father's footsteps without even fully realizing it." Wintergreen does have a touch of husk to his voice and mist to his eyes at that. "I was his Godfather, for what little good it did." He looks to Thea once more and notes, "I would have you know that I am not ordinarily so forthcoming about Slade's personal details, but he bade me to answer whatever questions you might ask, and so much like him, I will hew to the letter of that permission."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea listens still, and there's a bit that her thoughts linger on. The //secrets// and how they end up affecting the family. She can hear her own argument, time and time again feeling like she was hitting her head against a wall.

'You think you're protecting me by not telling me the truth, but you're not. You're hurting me!'

"I'm sorry," is murmured. Thea quirks a half smile and nods, "It's nice to know who he is. I mean, //who// he is. I have a feeling that some of this is going to help a lot. I don't know how, but it will."

Shifting her stuff in the back seat, she sets her backpack beside her but makes no motion to turn on a phone. Strange thing at her age. "I understand. Though, it saves him having to answer questions that may never come up." There's a moment, though, and she's a little hesitant in the question, but it does emerge, and her voice is low,

"Were you on the island with him?"

Slade Wilson has posed:
"No. I spent some time apart from him, caring for one of our other fellow soldier's child. Once she was ready to be free of the nest, I returned to his service." He grins a bit wistfully, "And whether you wish to know or not, the reason I will never turn my back on him is because he once saved my life at great personal and professional cost to himself. I too owe a debt...and /someone/ has to be around to try to appeal to whatever scattered feathery bits of the angels of his better nature may still remain."

Another turn, and Wintergreen notes, "We're almost at our destination." Sure enough, after about another mile the truck pulls into a side-alley. Wintergreen then turns to look quite intently at Thea, "Speaking of conscience, I would ask that you listen carefully here: I feel obligated to carry the hope that somewhere within Slade still resides the better man that became my dearest friend, because someone has to. But you are under no such obligation. Slade Wilson is one of the most dangerous men on the planet. He is a cold-blooded killer, a man that has toppled nations through as much manipulation as brute force and skill, and a man whom a great deal of those who dare to draw too close to him end up dead. I will not tell you what path you should take. That is your decision. But I /implore/ you, Miss Queen. Enter this clear-eyed and wary. Even if Slade does not mean you any direct harm and is sincere in his offer of training...and I believe both of those to be true, it may not mean that he isn't using you to some end that only he sees, and may not be to the benefit of you or those you hold dear, or even to people you have not and may never meet. Think on it carefully, because Slade does not accept half-measures. It will not be many steps on this path before he will not allow you to leave it." He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out an envelope. "If you've changed your mind, tell me to put this away and I will take you back to your apartment. If you still accept the risk...then take this, step outside, and wait for me to get out of sight before you open it and receive your instructions."

Thea Queen has posed:
The problem with Thea is that she still believes in the good of people. Those scattered, feathery bits of wing surely is there? Maybe? She's not stupid enough to believe this is all altruism, but in the cosmic scheme of things, she's just not that important a player on the stage. Even if she's a trust fund baby. There are lots of them out there, particularly without her particular history.

As the car pulls into the alley-way and stops, Thea is pulling her backpack close again. It's the honest and earnest words that gives the woman pause. There is no doubt that what he says rings true; she saw how easily it was for him to kill all those in that restaurant, and who knows how many others? But, there's a link of her family here. Something that makes her feel that there's really no other option. Ollie's done his best, Robert, Malcolm.. kind of. Given the chance, anyway.. but here?

Like a moth to a flame.

"Mr Wintergreen," and her words are quiet as she gives some voice to her thoughts. "He knew my father. Not long, but... and it was on that island. My brother, too. I just feel like," and her words drop for a moment as she searches for them, and after a couple of heartbeats, begins again, "I really have nothing else. My life, my family, everything that was happening was all something created for me so I wouldn't see what was really going on. No wonder I was a mess.. am a mess," she corrects herself.

"I'm either going to do it, or," there's that pause again before, "I fail." There, under her words are a soft determination. If there had been any doubt, as she talks with Mr Wintergreen, the butterflies remain, but there's no doubt as to her next step.

She holds out her hand to take the envelope and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. In the next moment, she's pulling the handle on the door and sliding out. She doesn't say 'good bye'. Instead? Just before the door is closed, she murmurs,

"Thank you."

As per instructions, she'll wait until she can no longer see the taillights, blue eyes fixed on the soon to be retreating vehicle before she'll look at her environs, the envelope's paper making a soft rustling noise in her hand.

Slade Wilson has posed:
It's a dark alley. It doesn't seem a /horrible/ part of town, but the buildings that flank her are definitely older, with fire-escapes leading to roof level (or near enough that reaching the roof is easily enough from the top). The street behind her is busy though not a main thoroughfare. Ahead of her the alley looks like it ends in a "t" intersection.

Assuming the envelope is opened, it bears a simple piece of paper with an address printed on it. Beneath the address it says "20 MINUTES, NO TAXIS, RIDESHARES, OR OTHER RIDES-FOR-HIRE."

A likely internet search marks the address as six blocks away...as the crow flies. Technically doable, depending on the route and methods taken...but it's sure as heck not going to be easy.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea opens the envelope, certainly, and reading the note, checks on the address. She's not from New York City. She's from Starling, and while it would have been child's play there, here? She takes out her maps, and every permutation of 'walk' brings her to over 30 minutes, via one route or another, or another. Even while she's checking it, though, she's started walking. The phone is put away, though it's on its map app, and she goes further into the 'T' intersection of alleyways. Turning towards a direction, she's in a jog that is getting closer to a run. It's a couple of hundred feet, however, that she catches a chain-link fence with razor wire atop it, leading to a defunct drive-up to a parking garage.

Looking at it, Thea takes a deep breath, starts to climb it, and feeling it wobble under her, //mostly// avoids the rusty razor wire as she jump/falls down. She does land on her feet in a proper landing, however, and she takes off again.

//That// took up time. Much needed time.

Through the city, and finally, once she's crossed boulevards, run across a couple of rooftops, and slid down fire escapes, she reaches the destination winded.. and checks her phone for the time.

Rolling her head back, she looks at the sky and lets out, "Damn..." before she finds another envelope.

Once again, it's another address.. and with a check to her map, it looks a little easier, but once again.. there's traffic, fences.. and the thought even occurs to her that maybe the sewers might work-- but that's only considered when she shows up breathless at the next site.

And.. the next.

Slade Wilson has posed:
At the fourth site, by the time Thea's basically parkoured her way through a half-marathon, the envelope is at the entrance to what looks like a very old gymnasium. It's kinda falling apart, honestly, and assuming the instructions of "come inside" are followed, she'll find Slade seated in a large open space, in costume, with his helmet sitting on the floor next to him.

He rises to his feet smoothly when he sees her, canting his head slightly before he speaks:

"Good and tired? Good. Now we fight."

He moves towards her, taking up a fighting stance and adding:

"Lesson number one: Most fights are won before the first bullet is fired or the first punch thrown. Seize every opportunity you can, and if you don't have any, make some. Why do you think you didn't reach the first three destinations in time?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Ugh...

By what ends up being the 'last' spot, Thea can feel her legs burning, her arms are screaming, and that backpack is feeling like a very bad idea. Still, the young woman drags herself over to where she can find the envelope and reads the contents. Blue eyes shift to the building proper, and she pushes the door in, looking all the world like all she wants to do is sit down and relax.

What does she find?

"Slade--" and at the very least, she puts her backpack down before she looks back, and stares for a moment. "I'm--"

He's.. probably not going to let her sit down.

So, she makes to approach, but she's not engaging. Instead, she keeps a small distance as she tries to fill her lungs with enough air to help her body from screaming. It's not that she's not willing to fight if she has to, or that she's not ready-

"I don't think I could have. There were too many obstacles." She's got scratches on her hands to prove it!

Slade Wilson has posed:
"Lesson number 2, work smarter, not harder. If you knew the city, your might've made it on foot. But you need to broaden your view. I said you couldn't hire a ride. Didn't say you couldn't steal one." He smirks now, throwing a rather light jab towards Thea's head...it's clearly pulled, as is the rest of the combo that follows...enough to make her divide her focus, but she can /probably/ avoid or block them for now. Mostly just simple boxing maneuvers.

"Or, if after you searched for the address, you'd searched for bus routes, you'd have found one that took you to the first destination in ten minutes at a stop just outside the alley." He chuckles, "So make that lesson three: Be aware of all the tools available to you."

Thea Queen has posed:
Sonuva..

Thea's listening, but she catches the motion of the jab, with an automatic forearm block rising to push it away with a little force, with a duck, a shift of weight and position to step in to counter. This? This is okay. It's almost like a kata with input, even if he's more boxing and she's doing a little more... martial arts? If he gets faster, however, or harder, it'll be a whole lot more difficult to keep up.

She's got some training.

But, she's also tired, sore, and processing what she's being told.

"And here I was, considering the sewers when Transit would have worked just as well," is said wryly.

Slade Wilson has posed:
"Not the worst thought. Would've got you close but not quite there in a couple of cases." Slade notes, and indeed the strikes grow quicker and more varied. Still pulled enough that he's not going to do much more than bruise her a bit. Certainly not looking to give her another concussion.

But then, he lashes out and instead of a strike, he actually grabs a handful of Thea's hair, yanking her close enough that he barely has to growl when he adds:

"Lesson four: There's no such thing as fighting dirty. There's only fighting." He releases her, sort of half-shoving her away by the head.

"Now come at me like your life depends on it, and I'm wearing the face of everyone that's ever lied to you."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's listening, but her breathing becomes a whole lot deeper as she pulls in more air. She's tired, past 'tiring', and she can feel it. Slow was reasonably easy. Reasonably.

It's when Slade begins to change it up some, quicker, pulling some jabs, but now, she's feeling others. She's pushed back with one, and when she steps in for a leg sweep and a jab to his head, she's over-extended. At first, the fleeting thought is that she's going to land on her back. But that's //not// what happens.

Instead, he's got fingers in her short hair and he's pulled her close. Her head is tilted up a little, and her mouth is open both with the way her head is set, and with fatigue. And thus the lesson is spoken before she's pushed back.

There's a slight stumble as she gains her footing- at least she didn't fall. But, it's the fighting, the speed, the atmosphere, the fact her muscles are screaming at her that one moment she's standing there, sucking wind, and the next moment?

Thea's a girl on a mission, going in all out, some of her training in the gross motor showing, but it's a lot less cohesive as those who have lied to her show up in the mind's eye- and all those that have left her that she still harbors all that anger, all the bitterness.. strike after strike attempted, and whether they land or not?