5763/An Improbably Plausible Con

An Improbably Plausible Con
Date of Scene:	28 March 2021
Location:	The Wick
Synopsis:	Lancelot tries to trick Bobbi and murder her in a dark alley, but he didn't count on her being a super soldier. For a moment there, Bobbi thought may be she had lost Lance; but the trajectory of these doppels is coming to a head.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Lance Hunter

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
    There was a real risk that if she hung out at Harry's Bar that Lance might end up being there, or turning up. That's what she wanted to avoid. And as good as the whisky bar was in Gotham... that's all the way in Gotham. It was a fun evening hanging with Clint but she was in New York anyway - so she walked in to the nearest quiet bar she could find - The Wick.

    Settled in to a corner as a guitarist plays soft tune at a slower tempo than the original. She's nursing a scotch whisky in her hands and leaning back in the chair. There are even some wings on the table. This day of the week the bar isn't too full. It's a curious bar after all, not catering to the mainstream clientel.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Of all the gin joints in all the world, guess who just walked into this one? Lance makes his way through the door bringing a gust of chilly spring air with him when he does. He's dressed in his standard uniform of a t-shirt and jeans under a leather jacket and spotting Bobbi he makes his way over. "Heya Bobs," he pulls the slightest of faces at the name but soldiers on. "Buy you a drink?" he asks, casually as he takes the stool beside her without a care in the world.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi's look sours. So much for avoiding Lance. Of course this also means he was literally following her.. great, he's going to try the grand gesture thing again. She rolls her eyes, "Really? Trying the charming thing?" She sits up and glowers, then sips more of her whisky.

    She's not falling for this game, it's an old one and she's not in the mood for it. "Just so you know, in the history of woman kind this has never actually worked. It's a myth." Without the context necessary that'll be a confusing statement to faux-Lance. "So I'm going to make this easy for you. You've got 15 seconds. Make them count."

Lance Hunter has posed:
THAT was not the reaction Lancelot had been expecting, he blinks, turning to the barkeep to order a scotch to buy a bit of time and think. "So, whatever I'm planning isn't going to fix it then?" he asks her. "Things really that bad between us?" okay now he was just indulging in a bit of schadenfreude about his duplicate's lovelife, even if his actual life should be cut short by now. "Because we could try and fix it" he asks with a cruel smirk on his lips not quite matching the tone of the moment.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi glowers and sips her whisky, "Yes things are really that bad between us. Don't you get it?" Strange little behaviours that differ to how Lance usually acts. It's almost like he doesn't care.. he's not invested in Bobbi which - well that just seems impossible.

    "We could," she says with a small smile and her foot pushes out the seat across from her at the table. "You've got 11 seconds left." She raises an eyebrow and says, "Like that time in Borneo." There was no time in Borneo, they've never been there together. But she's not sure what kind of game is going on here they still have their own coded short hand they developed together years ago.

Lance Hunter has posed:
"Surely it can't be that bad?" he asks her still grinning. "We're good together, Bobs. You know it and I know it, so we should just put this all aside and at least talk it out like grownups," the grin slowly fades as he holds out his hand. "C'mon let's take a walk," he says. As much as the Wick wasn't crowded tonight if he could do what he came to do with fewer witnesses, so much the better. Lancelot smiles at the mention of Borneo. "You gave me more time back then," he offers, making up details and hoping they were the right ones. "Good time though," he adds with a wistful smile.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Lancelot. It had to be. Which meant this was the third attempt on her life. She wonders if that means... Babs might be with Lance? Darn. She raises both eyebrows and then smiles, "Sure. A Walk. You've earned it." He's earned a something any way. She drinks the remainder of her whisky and then drops some cash on the table top for the server. She stands up smoothly and then winces.

    Acting is essential in the spy business. In the surviving ZZGU business? probably not as important. But she remembers that Lancelot probably thinks she's recovering from a harpoon through the leg. So a little limp is in order as she waves to the bartender, puts on her jacket, then heads out of the wick in to the cool spring air. "Just how much time do you need anyway?," she asks wondering how far she's going to let him take this charade. May be she'll get lucky and Babs will be here too and not going after Lance.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Lance is happy to follow her out of the bar, though notably he doesn't pay for his drink, just walks on out after her. "I dunno, how much time do you think I'll need?" he asks her answering her question with a question, a classic Lance stalling tactic, which clearly transcends dimensions.

He starts leading them down the street a dark alley a scant few meters ahead of them. There's a slight shift in his shoulders, like a building tension, and it seems he's armed as well a pistol in a holster at the back of his belt, but the shape of it is visible under his jacket for people with the sort of training Bobbi has.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi peers at that subtle carried weapon. So.. this is less creative than the harpoon gun for sure, but possibly more effective. She keeps up the limp while watching his back. "I don't think this'll take too long at all," she says clearly letting him know she knows.

    If she had her staves on her this'd be over very very quickly. Even faster if she had an ICER. But she's off duty and so the only weapon on her is a knife. The goal is to subdue, not kill. Her eyes move to the dumpster resting against the wall. A big heavy metal lid.. perfect. She knows he's about to draw, it's in his very-Lance like body language. She grabs the lid and pulls, the metal hinges snapping off and she pulls it in front of herself like a shield to absorb his first shots.

Lance Hunter has posed:
CLANG CLANG two shots aimed for her head ring off her impromptu shield. "What in the bloody hell?" he curses backing off a couple of paces for some space and for a better shot at her legs. "Guess someone's been eating their Wheaties," he says before he squeezes off a shot at what should be her wounded leg.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi is so glad the metal was thick enough to stop those bullets because this Lance, like her Lance, has excellent aim. She tosses the metal lid at Lancelot and the shot at her leg bounces off the metal too and then she is running toward him on that supposedly injured leg.

    A dodge to the left, then kicking off the wall with the 'bad' leg, whipping the foot around to kick at Lancelot's head even as her fists are striking downward. "It's something in the water here I hear. Lots of minerals," she taunts between grunts, "most people prefer bottled water. How about you, budget quantum leap, do you like the water here?"

Lance Hunter has posed:
Lancelot jumps out of the way of the lid but there's no saving his shots, they bounce off harmlessly before he's out of the way. The dodge to the left avoids a bit of panic fire from Lancelot.

He ducks the kick to the head but gets hit ith both fists. "Always the smart one," he says as she makes clear she knows who he is. "And yeah, love it actually that's why when Babs is done with your boyfriend I'm going to stay." He staggers back from the punches but brings the gun up all the same. "But don't worry, you'll see him soon," he says pulling the trigger again trying to take out Bobbi at close range before her hand to hand skills turn the tide.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    It's been a while since she's been in an actual one on one fight for her life. So long in fact that the last time she did it she wasn't a super soldier. Her plea to Steve had been a genuine one - she doesn't know her limits, she isn't calibrated. She doesn't know what her body will do and she can't control it.

    She knew it was inevitable that eventually things would go too far.. she just hoped it was someone deserving. Lancelot... he qualifies. She drops slides toward him as he tries to shoot her center mass and kicks his knee - just as she always teaches her students. It doesn't matter how big, fast, or strong someone is - they still have the same mechanical weaknesses; only this time she kicks like a freight train.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Lancelot is quick, his gun adjusts when she slides trained down on her, willing the take to the blow to the knee if he cab put a bullet in his target. A very Lance thing to do, count on his ability to take a beating, one problem with that plan though he doesn't realize how hard he's going to be hit.

The knee gives way with an audible pop and a howl of pain from Lancelot as he fires wildly and staggers back towards the wall. "You bloody bitch," he curses. "Hope Babs is skinning your man alive right now."

More shots follow wild and barely aimed, with the pain messing up his concentration.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi covers her head with her arms as more bullets are fired... though... some how none of them hit her. She rocks on her back and jumps up on to her feet. She strides up to Lance and waits until he has the gun to her head.. she's been counting but apparently he hasn't. He'd out of bullets.

    "He'd probably enjoy it compared to the flaying I've been giving him lately," she says.. though honestly, she is now extremely worried about him. And this guy is just getting in the way of checking on him. Sure she's pissed at Lance but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him deeply.. in fact, that was always the problem.

    A hand shoots out to strike him in the throat followed by a blow to the side of the head.. no wait, a blow to the gun which then hits him in the side of the head.

Lance Hunter has posed:
No reply from Lancelot, not after she closes the distance and hits him with his own gun. There's a grunted curse and he backs off trying to stand on his bad leg, h tries to bring the gun back on her again. "Whatever you've been doing, will pale in comparison to what Babs'll do to him, so, I'm going to go and if you don't stop me I'll call her and change her mind, you might get to see your man on this side of the afterlife after all. Sound fair?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi starts to get angry at Lancelot. Threatening her Lance? only she gets to do that! Call Babs? Not a terrible idea. May be she's the bait they need after all. But this man has to go down first. She narrows her eyes and says, "You're not calling anyone 'Lancelot' and if she lays a finger on my boi I promise you - you and she will be making the trip back to your world in a body bag."

    She's not going to let him get away - limping like that. She charges at him again but this time she aims to detain, trying to grab at his arm, then his wrist.. and gripping tight, torquing it behind his back. She's never fought like this before - even against Gordon she restrained herself but now she doesn't care if she squeezes that wrist too tight, she's not going to let him escape. Her leg tries to sweep his to drop him on to the ground.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Lancelot fires but by the time the gun goes off his wrist is snapped and useless, the gun clattering to the ground seconds later before his arm yanked painfully behind his back. "Hey," he calls out. "You hear what I said about your man, you need m-" he begins before that sweep puts him on the cement, broken leg causing him to howl in pain. When he lands he starts to scramble on his front towards where his gun fell amidst the garbage in the alleyway.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi's lips press together and she feels that numbness racing up her left arm. She clenches and unclenches her fist and then steps over him, kicks the gun away. "Night night Lancelot," she says and slams his head to the ground. She checks her heart rate monitor.. it's high. She can feel her heart racing. She grabs her phone and hits the speed dial on Lance's phone... calling... calling... calling...

    No answer. "Dammit Lance!" She quick dials SHIELD ops, "This is Morse, I need a 20 on Agent Hunter's personal phone."

Lance Hunter has posed:
Lancelot goes down in a heap his fingers mere inches from his fallen weapon. It had been close.

As for calling into SHIELD, the agent on the other end replies, "Code in please, Commander Morse," and once they have confirmed Bobbi's ID the sound of typing can be heard. "His phone is not showing up at present, the last ping was in Salem, Harry's Hideaway about an hour ago."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi glares down at the unconscious form of Lancelot and then nods to herself, "Thanks ops, I have another number to trace." She sighs and then searches Lancelot for his phone. Prior dialled numbers.. "give me a trace on the following number." She reads out the number and then adds, "And get an ARMOR team to my location, I've captured one of the doppelgangers."

Lance Hunter has posed:
There's more typing, "Team is on the way right now..." then a small pause as the system looks up the number and it's location. "That number is active and pinged in the vicinity of Agent Hunter's last location. It's on the move though, looks like it's heading out of Salem and into the city."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "Thanks ops. Morse out," she says and hangs up. She frowns for a moment and then considers.. either Babs has Lance and it's going to be a prisoner exchange, or Lance is dead... or Lance is fine and she's retreating. She calls Harry's Bar, "Come on pick up Harry.."

Lance Hunter has posed:
"Hello," comes the voice of the assistant manager who runs the place when Harry is away, he sounds tired, and distraught. "Harry's Hideaway, um, how can I help you? Though if this is another media request we're not commenting on the incident and you can speak to Salem PD." It sounds like something he's said more than a few times tonight.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi frowns a moment at the sound of his voice.. and a media request, "Sorry? This is Bobbi.. uh, Morse. I come to your bar a lot - with my partner Lance. Is.. everything okay there? I've been trying to call him but I couldn't get through."

Lance Hunter has posed:
"Hey, this is James," he tells her, before there's a long pause. "Uh, it was bad Bobbi, real bad, that woman who looks like you, she was here again she shot Harry, and Lance. Lance is okay, or well he walked onto the stretcher, Harry looked real bad when they took him away though. They said they were taking them both into the city, Metro General hospital."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi frowns and clenches and unclenches her hand, coughing and feeling sweat beads on her forehead, "Metro General Hospital. Thanks James.. I'm really sorry about Harry. I'll head to the hospital and call you when I know what's happening with Harry." She hangs up and drops down on to her butt next to Lancelot and pats his back, "Okay Lancelot.. you get a reprieve today. ARMOR is going to look after you and then I'm going after your girlfriend." She knows he can't hear her and she's gripping her phone to her chest. She lays back on the ground trying to catch her breath as her heart races wildly, "Just... as soon... as my heart... calms down."