greatexpectations | (open) elektra natchios (black sky)

There's way too much to process here and he thinks she can see that plain on his face. She went overboard? What does that mean? Did she see him, talk to him? Frank swallows, unconsciously leaning away from her as he straightens up in his seat. Thinking about Billy makes him uncomfortable, no doubt, but he has to jump ahead there.

"Paid? For what?"

She's overdoing it again. Elektra sighs at her enthusiasm. She needs to reel it back a little if she is going to win him over. "There are always more Russos and Rawlins as I am sure you know. I was thinking of getting rid of them." She explains casually. You might think she was talking about a pest problem if you didn't know any better. "I thought you'd might like to join me." She gestures to him. "Naturally I'd compensate you since it is my idea." Totally original. No one else ever thought of it!!!

He isn't sure whether to let horror or bemusement win out, and his expression is left broken between the two.

"I'm not a gun for hire," it's grunted out as he stands, snatching up his jacket. He stops to put it on, and level her with a suddenly sober stare. "Don't go near Billy Russo again."

Elektra sighs dramatically. She feels misunderstood. In everyone's defense she is terrible at explaining herself. It was pretty much inevitable they'd end up on two different pages. "That wasn't quite what I had in mind." Maybe he needs some time to think it over. She stands up, crossing over to get in his way. She stays just long enough to press a kiss to his cheek and slip a card in his front pocket.

"Call me when you're off vacation. We'll have fun." With that she steps out of his way without ever acknowledging his warning about Russo.

Shock spills over his face as she leans in to kiss him, and Frank smells her perfume in that one second where it clings to her skin. His heart picks up its pace, his hand touching the card as he reaches around it to extract a few wrinkled and bloodied bills for the waitress, and he leaves an extra for the cup. He knows he should be walking away, maybe straight into Madani's office to tell her about this - and Billy. But he realizes he needs more information first and it ties his stomach in knots.

He tips his head back towards her and takes a step in rather than towards the door. "What did you mean, 'I should be worried?'" Frank's brow furrows, but he can't address anything else until that's out of the way.

She doesn't bother hiding how smug her smile is. Maybe all that time she spent stalking Billy Russo wasn't a total waste, after all. "Because he made himself forget every part of the story where he was the villain." Elektra latches onto his arm to direct him out the door with her. She rather be gone before the lady counts her bloody dollars. She'll have to smooth that one out some more later.

For now, she steers him away like some pushy lover. They'll fit right in with the summer crowds while she continues. Her eyes are trained ahead with a smile no less self-satisfied. "That might not be a problem on its own. It's pathetic and cowardly, but not dangerous to anyone unless of course someone were feeding his delusions of victimhood on a fairly regular basis." She spares him a glance. She knows he's smart enough to catch where this is going, but the explanation goes on all the same.

"He has a notebook filled with sketches of your symbol. He dreams about how evil man with a skull on his chest destroys his face almost every night. It follows the same pattern: he gets violent, his therapist drops everything to run to his side and reassure him he's done nothing wrong regardless of who he hurts that night, and they do it all over again only with more violent results each time. I am positive that is by design." She stops there to gauge his reaction. Elektra definitely gave away more than she liked. She watched Billy long enough to establish patterns and steal something from Russo even under that woman's watchful eye. It wasn't an easy feat. Elektra hopes he gets the big picture she is painting here. It'd be a shame if he got taken out by Russo this soon in the game.

She latches onto him and it's natural for him to lean back into her space, allowing Elektra to lead him out of the diner and onto the crowded street. She's making it sound like Billy is... dangerous, but that can't be right. He's a convalescent, isn't he?

"How long have you been watching him?" It's low, worry seeping into his voice despite his best efforts.

Elektra bites on her bottom lip. She knows she how it sounds. "A month." She reaches into her purse with free hand. She presents a small notebook a second later. "It took a while to get my hands on this after I got invested. I had to wait for them to sedate Russo after one of his tantrums. Thankfully the doctor was running late that night." She smiles innocently. "Someone slashed her tires."

He nervously follows her hand, but then she produces a notebook and it's worse than any weapon could be. He stops dead in the middle of the street, suddenly feeling like the Earth is closing in on him.

"What... Who are you?"

She stops with him, gauging his reaction seriously. The question does bring out a manic smile. That is the question, isn't it? She'll go with who she'll be with him. "Elektra Natchios." She states it like it's obvious. "Should I have led with that?"

"Maybe," he admits, a little stunned as he pulls away from her. He's attempting to map a getaway in his head, but he might be just morbidly curious enough to stick around. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" The book, her name... any of it, really. He's not inclined to specify at the moment.

She shakes her head, brushing a piece of her to the side to mask her disappointment. She can already tell he doesn't get it. Really when will she ever learn? No one ever does. "I highly doubt it. I wasn't exactly kicking when it came time to make an impression." She snorts softly at her dark joke. She takes a step back to appraise him openly.

"You're fun to look into. I'll grant you that. If you're not interested in playing with me, just say so. I have all the time in the world to keep looking, but none to waste on lost causes." As much as she hates to say it. She really thinks this could be just the thing to keep her mind busy now that her war is long over. It is fun to have a partner along for the ride.

Wasn't kicking... wait. Realization sets in and he swallows, snatching the notebook out of her hand suddenly.

"Well, I'm definitely a lost cause, lady, but you knew that already if you've looked into me." Frank lifts both eyebrows, seeming much more with it now that he has some semblance of what's going on. People who are alive that are supposed to be dead are kind of his thing, it doesn't even seem weird to him now that he knows (and he doesn't think to ask how.) "Let me get one thing across to you right now: I don't play. This isn't a game to me."

But his eyes tell her that he's listening.

She can say she really has his attention. Elektra desperately doesn't want to waste it. She drops the games and decides for sincerity for a change. "It's not a game for me either." "I already fought my war. I died to win it twice over. Now that it's done..." She shakes her head hopelessly. She's lost. There's no other explanation for it. Elektra meets his gaze, open and vulnerable for the first time since they crossed paths.

"Your cause has been the only fight that seemed worthy of my devotion. I'm not interested in money or power. I just want people like them to die on their knees." That last line is particularly bitter. She truly hates the root of the problem: people so big and powerful they think they can make slaves of everyone else. Anything less than complete subjection earns you death. They deserve every horror she intends to bring them with or without Frank.

He hates how much he relates to what she's saying. Frank's been trying to gather whatever scraps of himself remain after his own war, but the longer it goes the more he thinks that maybe it is a lost cause.

"...Who?" he challenges, still not following what she even wants him to do. If they killed all their enemies, who's left? He looks down at the book in his hand and the scribbles of skulls, flipping page after page, but he stays silent. Her being right about Billy does make him more inclined to trust her, though the whole situation annoys the fuck out of him.

Dark eyes lights up immediately the challenge. That is the right question. "I am so glad you asked." She pulls out her phone, swiping casually away as she talks. "You and Russo aren't the only ones I kept an eye on. I had so much time to think while I pulled myself back together." Literally. There's a fun story she's not sharing any time soon. "Just because all my monsters are dead doesn't mean they stopped existing altogether. I started snooping around a few of those files Black Widow leaked and...."

She lands on a picture a creepy middle aged blond man in sunglasses and SHIELD uniform. "Meet Agent Perry of SHIELD. He unsurprisingly turned out to be a double agent for HYDRA. He's quite the character. He's been murdering or raping every woman he can get his hands on since age twelve. Sometimes both. He's been caught a few times too, but never given enough of a sentence to matter." She tsks at that. "HYDRA covered up his true records in exchange for his loyalty and covering up for a few incidents during his time with SHIELD." She smiles cheerfully and lowers her phone. "I'm planning to pay him a visit after you. Our talk will be far less pleasant." Her smile is all teeth. She is truly looking forward to it.

Agent of SHIELD? Without noticing, he stops in his tracks as he hears her words, everything in him clenching. His fists, his teeth, every fibre of him is tight and at attention, bracing for a fight. A Nazi and a rapist? She really has been studying him to know his preferences so well. When she indicates she might go alone, the disappointment in Frank is palpable, likely to them both.

"I need to make a stop first." Since he's assuming he's still invited here. He starts walking again, swiftly now and head down, leading her to his truck a way he knows is poorly lit and without CCTV.

It is hard not to feel a little smug. Elektra can feel his need to handle this. She knows for sure that she has him at least for this. The ex-assassin is at least smart enough to reign in her smile. She walks with a pep in her step, cheerful and unworried about being seen. He wouldn't head a way that didn't lend to privacy. She's too much of a show off to worry about such a thing regardless. "By all means. I can be patient." Especially when she's getting what she wants.

It annoys him that she knew this outcome before she met him, and that he still knows next to nothing about her, but he's better at concealing that as he unlocks the giant black van at the end of the block. As he gets in, he moves a suspicious-looking duffle bag to the back seat so she can get into the passenger's seat and fires it up.

As he's waiting for her, he buckles and pulls out his phone, googling her name. He probably should confirm she is who she says before running off into the night on a murder spree with her, or something. He studies the picture of the supposedly deceased woman on Wikipedia with the one in his car - identical. He throws his phone in the pocket behind the shifter and takes off towards his storage unit.

Elektra tags along without a care in the world about suspicious duffle bags much less the one who owns them. She straps herself in after sneaking a quick look at what he is looking up. Elektra couldn't be any more amused. She's not even sure if it's the timing or that he bothers that gets her. "Did I pass the stranger danger test?" She asks innocently once she's buckled in.

"I'd think a big man like you would be alright if it helps." It actually doesn't, but knowing that is half the fun.

He tools around the corner, too fast to take it in this deathtrap but it hugs the street against all odds anyway. The commentary pulls an involuntary snort from his nose, tempted to look her way but his eyes stay glued to the road even with one hand on the wheel.

"Yeah? Doubt that. You wouldn't come seek me out if you weren't sure you could take me down." She's not the only one with observational skills above average, no matter how dumb he looks.

She looks absolutely delighted by the answer, white teeth flashing at him. "I knew you only looked dumb." Elektra trains her eyes ahead. She actually appreciates his insane (looking) driving. "Unfortunately for you size isn't everything." She props her head against her fist, elbow resting against the door. "You are lucky enough that I don't want you dead even if this doesn't turn out the way I want it to. I despise that sort of behavior. It's how Perry got himself on the chopping block." She points out cheerfully. It's all relevant even if she probably does sound insane. A part of her still wants to be understood even if it comes out a bit manic.

Something flashes in his gaze, visible in the lights reflecting from the streets even without him turning his head. All he does is grubt in acknowledgment though he hates people pointing that out usually. Coming from her, it's different, like she's recognizing a kindred spirit. That's what they are now, isn't it?

"Believe it or not, lady, I knew that." It gets a smile, lopsided and sharp though it is. He drops it as quickly as it flit across his face anyway. What seems like mere seconds later, the van screeches to a halt outside a chained up storage unit and Frank reaches back into that sketchy bag to retrieve a pair of bolt cutters, hopping out without another word, hood up not like it matters. He leaves the engine running and the door wide open.

She takes even those fleeting smiles. Elektra is feeling that kinship. It is a nice little high for her. She watches him disappear, waiting patiently for his return. They'll have to make a stop for her gear too so she has an incentive to play nice here. You know at least until Frank returns.

"Do you always look like a robber?" This is the sketchiest situation ever. She loves it.

He just rolls his eyes and slides through the newly opened fence so he can get to his unit, then hops back out again.

"Come on." What? Did he not mention she's helping him?

(no subject)

blacksky - 2019-10-03 01:33 (UTC) - Expand