Trooper Station | Saturday

[knife_bender]

Diego came into work to approximately seven messages left by Bee Lady wondering what they were going to do about the cicadas. Apparently she thought some kind of turf war between them and the bees would be happening, and the cops should be on the bees side since they were there first.

Did he really get paid enough to deal with this?

[Open]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was taking a break from shooting -- the thing about playing the bimbo was that not only did you not have a lot of great lines, but you also got to sit out a lot of the real fun action scenes -- when she sent Diego a picture of one of the promotional posters featuring herself, Stormfront and Maeve, emblazoned with the words GIRLS GET IT DONE.

Followed by: you've ruined me.

She was not going to elaborate on what she meant by that, no. He knew perfectly well what she meant.

[knife_bender]

Diego laughed to himself. I regret nothing.

[defenderofdesmoines]

I've had to hear that phrase like 25 times already today.

Which would be annoying even if it hadn't gone and been corrupted.

this movie is going to be so dumb, Diego. I think I'm losing brain cells.

[knife_bender]

I mean none of those movies are masterpieces. Even the Black Noir ones were just dumb fun.

[defenderofdesmoines]

this one is especially stupid. think it's 'cause we're ALL in it.

So no one was really getting enough screentime for a decent storyline, just...terrible, terrible one-liners. All over. Everywhere.

how'd paintball go? did you cover Five in fucshia?

She would picture it even if he hadn't.

[knife_bender]

Ugh I don't even wanna talk about it. Everybody is cheating. Yes, even Captain America. That was the only explanation when he kept sucking so bad.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, that got a little sadface emoji. well, that's lame. Winning was only fun when it was legitimate! Annie stood by this!

maybe I can swing a visit next Friday and can help YOU cheat. Because turnabout, fair play, et cetera.

[knife_bender]

That could work they haven't banned powers yet. Which was why Five kept creeping up on him.

[defenderofdesmoines]

No one but you can aim if everyone's got spots in their eyes, just saying.

Tried and true strategy, right there. This was why they made such a good team!

(One of the reasons, anyway.)

[knife_bender]

You willing to have Captain America disappointed in you in order to achieve that goal? Because, really, that was the only thing stopping Diego from getting violent.

[defenderofdesmoines]

omg I didn't know the stakes were so high.

She would have to actually consider this, now.

but because I love you: yes, I would risk the Captain's disappointment.

[knife_bender]

Wow that's real love. Seriously, Diego didn't even know if he could risk that.

I don't even have to win I just want Five to lose

[defenderofdesmoines]

valid. this cheating sounds obnoxious.

Annie paused for a moment, debating asking about whether he and Five (and Steve, by the sounds of it) had perhaps gone on any recent excursions to Ohio, but that seemed like an in-person question.

And she wasn't really sure how she felt about it yet, anyway.

were you guys ever able to actually pull anything on him as kids? Maybe the solution to getting back at Five was to revert to childhood methods.

[knife_bender]

Not really. Which his father had seemed to love back then. Let's just say we weren't sad for too long when he disappeared. Except for Vanya.

[defenderofdesmoines]

what, was he actually nice to her or something?

The idea of Five being nice to anyone was sort of mystifying.

[knife_bender]

More like Vanya is very softhearted Or was, rather. Diego had no clue what she was like now.

[defenderofdesmoines]

That just made Annie think that maybe they should get in touch with Vanya and let her know that Five was okay? But it also super wasn't her call.

well, at least you get a second shot at getting one up on Five? even if I would totally argue that you're winning the long game here.

What with his appropriately-aged body and relative emotional maturity.

[knife_bender]

I totally agree. You know who would vehemently disagree? Five.

Everything going okay over there? Aside from the cheesy lines. There was no fixing that unfortunately.

[defenderofdesmoines]

not really.

Annie had promised not to keep things to herself when they were bad, and things yesterday in New Jersey had been really bad. It also was not really looking great today, given Stormfront's attitude and what Annie was starting to observe about her. But she also didn't really want to get into details -- she figured Hughie wouldn't have given her a burner phone if it was a good idea to be talking about this kind of stuff on her regular one, right?

but I'm okay/dealing with it. miss you a lot.

Because selfish as it was, she couldn't help but feel like she'd feel more at ease if Diego was with her in the middle of all of this.

[knife_bender]

Diego frowned. Of course he was curious, but he knew better than to ask for more detail over the phone. At least he knew he'd be seeing her soon so it was easier to keep his curiosity at bay right now than usual.

I miss you too. Only a couple more hours, right?

[defenderofdesmoines]

hopefully. I don't think they're keeping me too late. I have to do a thing tonight before I split but then I'm all yours until Monday night.

And by 'do a thing,' she meant she had to sneak into her teammate's trailer and break into her stuff.

I promise I'll fill you in when I see you. Though she might still try a little bit to put on a brave face about it all. At least for as long as she could.

[knife_bender]

I know. Ever since that week he spent in Vought Tower Diego knew that Annie had been keeping him in the loop with things.

I love you. And I still want to see your stupid movie when it comes out.

[defenderofdesmoines]

I love you too. and you'll have to wait until next year, but I happen to love you so much that I'll let you watch Citizen Starlight in the meantime.

Again: true love.

And if Annie had her way, no one else in Fandom would ever know about the atrocity that was her reality show, coming to Vought+ this fall.

(Except Jessica already knew. Damn it.)

[knife_bender]

In exchange for that I will try to find one of my old Teen Beat posters for you.

He knew they were probably in the attic in the mansion somewhere, along with the rest of The Umbrella Academy merch that should have been thrown away long ago.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie's response to that was a full ten heart-eyes emojis in a row.

you spoil me.

Okay, that alone might make the rest of the day bearable. Especially when coupled with the idea of actually getting to see Diego later tonight, and the temptation to think she might actually get to relax a bit in Fandom.

(Her brain and her subconscious would have other ideas, but it was a nice thought.)