The New Generation: Earth-53

"Heh, true," Rose replied, leaning back a little. She doubted that any of her teammates would approve of someone who went around killing rapists. Then again, they accepted the cat-bitch easily enough, and she just went around murdering a whole bunch of people in the city... Still, knowing her luck, they'd reject Zoe just because she was Rose's friend. Because why not, right? As the bike slowed down to a stop, Rose kind of looked off to the side and shrugged. "Well, yeah... I mean, I tend to care about the opinions of people I like. Which, you know... isn't a whole lot of people."

Hopping off the bike, Rose removed the helmet and then shook out her hair. That was a downside to wearing a sleek looking street helmet... mussed up hair when you took it off. Hopefully it would straighten out in a few minutes. "Right, good idea. The loud roaring engine would kind of give away our arrival, anyway. Need to keep the element of surprise."

Zoe glanced back at Rose curiously as she mentioned that she cared about the opinions of those she liked, which was apparently not a very large number according to Rose. This girl was becoming more of a curiosity every time she spoke. Zoe liked that, there weren't enough interesting people like her around in the world. She could already tell that her dad and Rose would get along.

"Yeah, as much as I love my bike it does attract some attention when you get around people that are nervous easily," Zoe admitted as she adjusted the large bag on her back once again. "However, this is a good thing for you," Zoe said as she took out her cell phone and started walking while typing on it. "Remember those toys that I mentioned to you? I'm gonna let you use one in a few minutes" she said as she continued to walk to their destination.

Rose stuffed her hands in her pockets, as Zoe led them away from where they parked. Just a few blocks to their destination, so they'd be there shortly. Good, Rose was just about ready to start kicking some ass. At the mention of using one of Zoe's father's cool military toys, though, Rose lifted an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh really now? What kind of toy might that be?" The thing about Rose, she really did love her toys, especially the super cool spy kind.

-A few minutes later-

"This kind," Zoe said as she opened up the bag upon her back. She had placed it in front of her and didn't allow for Rose to see what else was in the bag, but what she pulled out would hopefully be enough to please Rose's appetite. Zoe had taken Rose a few blocks away before making her climb up to the roof of one of the buildings, thankfully no one seemed to be using this area. Zoe was quick to pull out a weapon unlike anything Rose had ever seen. "Take everything that you know about sniper rifles, and multiply it by ten and you'll come close to what this is," she said as she placed the weapon down after having closed the bag. Rose would see that it was indeed a sniper rifle, but it looked far more advanced than your usual sniper rifle.

"This is the weapon that allowed my father to earn his nickname. He said that ever since he picked this thing up that he's never missed a single shot."

Rose followed Zoe up to the roof, already beginning to wonder exactly just what they were doing up there. After all, this wasn't the address they were supposed to be going to, although it was pretty close by. But when Zoe pulled out a strange looking weapon out of her bag, Rose's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Whoa..." she uttered, taking a closer look at the thing. "That's a rifle? Looks more like something you'd find on the Enterprise... but hey, I'm not complaining. I could take a liking to this thing... so, what, you want me to cover you while you go in alone?"

"Well that's one idea I had," Zoe admitted before she glanced at her friend. "I sent the name of the man we're after to one of my contacts in the NYPD. He told me that they've had our man under their eye for a while and have tried to track their movements. Apparently it's very common for our man to have a visit from a...."lady friend" at around this time," Zoe said as it was clear that she was implying a hooker or prostitute of some kind. "If I can pretend to be the one in her place, I can an audience with our man and you know.....twist his arm a bit," Zoe said before pointing to the building that they were walking towards originally. It was surrounded by several men, all of them armed and packing.

"The guy's on high alert Rose, and I think a charge in will get us killed. If you can cover me though....I think I can get in and out safely if something goes wrong," Zoe said before looking at Rose. "Will you help me in case I get blown?"

Rose narrowed her eyes, listening closely to Zoe's plan. It certainly hadn't been quite what she'd been expecting. After all, she'd wanted to go in there, guns blazing, and maybe pound the stuffing out of a few guards. Instead, she was hanging back on sniper duty, while her new friend went in alone undercover. "That's... risky," she said, folding her arms. But, admittedly, she didn't really have a better plan, and Zoe was the lead on this. "Yeah, I'll cover you. Just... don't let the bastard do anything to you, alright? And I swear, if we go through this whole thing without me getting to kick someone's ass, you'd better be prepared to make it up to me."

"Yeah, I know that it's risky," Zoe said before taking off her trench coat and placing it next to Rose along with her knife and the few guns that she carried on hand. It was amazing how much one girl could carry on her when it came to the amount of weapons that she used. "But this is my father we're talking about. You'd do the same thing if you were in my position I bet," Zoe said before unbuttoning her shirt and removing the bulletproof vest. She was going to be walking in there without any sort of defense, she would die from one shot to the chest if anything happened.

"And believe me, no one is ever going to hurt me like that again," Zoe said before turning and heading to the edge of the roof. Apparently she wasn't going to elaborate on what she meant by that comment at all, but it was clear there was something she wasn't sharing.

It would be a few minutes until Rose noticed something interesting. Zoe was walking towards the main entrance of the building, but now in a different outfit, or at least a modified form of it. She had ditched her white shirt and instead just worn what looked like a brown bikini top. She had also undone the belt around her waist and allowed it to just hang there, as if inviting people to take her pants off. She really did look the part. She talked with a guard for a few moments before being allowed inside. So far so good.

"Yeah... I guess I would," Rose responded, letting out a tentative sigh. That didn't mean she had to like it, though. Still, it was the only plan they had, so best to get on with it. What made it worse was that Zoe was going in there without any sort of protection. If her cover was blown, that could be the end of her. Rose would just have to make sure to cover her well enough. She had the sniper, after all. She was Zoe's protection.

At Zoe's next comment, though, Rose blinked in surprise and raised an eyebrow, watching the girl walk over to the edge of the roof. "...again?" she uttered, though her whisper went unheard, as Zoe had already begun her descent down the building. Rose suddenly felt very numb inside. Breathing out deeply, she took hold of the weapon and got into position, looking through the scope and following Zoe with it. For a brief moment, she paused and gulped down a lump in her throat, when she saw what the girl was wearing now. Well, she definitely looked the part... and looked good playing it, too. If any of those clowns tried to touch her, though, Rose would put a bullet through their damn neck.

None of the men laid a finger on her, they weren't dumb enough to touch the woman that their boss was going to use for that night after all. One man lead her inside but made sure not to touch her. For a while Rose wouldn't be able to track Zoe's movements that well, apparently they were using an elevator to get through. Eventually Rose would see Zoe come out on the top floor before being escorted in to a room where all the curtains were shut. A minute later though and Zoe opened up the curtain before looking in the direction that Rose was in. She blew a single kiss as if to signal that she appreciated what Rose was doing. After that, Zoe just started to walk around the room. Apparently the boss man hadn't shown up yet.

Shortly after that though, Rose would see a rather nice black car pull up before a man and several well armed men stepped out. Apparently this guy had quite the body guard collection. He made his way to the doors and inside while only two of his men followed. It was clear that he was making his way to the elevator to head upstairs to his own room.

Rose followed them closely for a few moments, through the lobby of the building, until they entered into the elevator and began their ascent. Immediately, she shifted her gaze through the scope upwards, looking for the floor they would come out on. Most likely the top floor, but he had to be sure. A few minutes later, though, they indeed came out on the top floor. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she had eyes on Zoe again, this time following her into a room with the curtains pulled down. When one of the curtains opened, and Zoe blew a kiss in Rose's direction, Rose actually had to take her eye off the scope and blink a couple times. A second later, she very lightly smiled to herself, then stuck her eye back against the scope, waiting for the boss man to arrive in his office.

The boss man eventually got to the top floor, and Rose would see that his two bodyguards stood outside while he made his way inside. The man was skinny and lean, and if he wasn't a complete scumbag of a criminal some people might find him attractive. There was no hiding what he was though, the kind of man that took children from their homes in order to initiate them in to the gang and force them to fight people they've never met before. The man was pure scum, the kind of person that Rose and Zoe both hated.

As the man walked in he moved over to Zoe, looking her over and taking another step so that he was literally only a few inches away from her. One of his hands traced from her hip up to her breast almost. He didn't touch it yet, as he suddenly noticed the window. He quickly moved over to it, saying something as he grabbed both pieces of the curtain. The next thing that Rose saw was Zoe quickly moving behind him and removing her belt before wrapping it tightly around the man's neck. She kicked the back of his knee to force him to the ground.

The interrogation had begun.

Meanwhile, down below Rose would notice something else starting to happen. Another car pulled up quickly to the building. A man jumped out of it before running over to one of the more heavily armed guards and pulling out a picture. On Rose's scope she would see it clear as day. It was a picture of Zoe. The guard started to shout something to the other guards while many of them made sure their weapons were ready before turning and heading towards the building.

Her cover was blown.

Rose flinched when she saw the man's filthy hands start to trace its way up Zoe's body. She wanted to put a bullet in him right then, but she knew she couldn't. They needed the information from him, and for that she had to endure watching Zoe being groped for now. Fortunately, the man turned away to get the curtain a moment later, allowing Zoe to come in behind him with a belt and start strangling him. In seconds ,she had him on his knees and at her mercy for questioning.

"Thatta girl," Rose said, smirking to herself. A moment later, however, she heard screeching tires out front of the building. Blinking, she glanced down over the edge of the roof to see another goon squad getting out in a hurry. This didn't look suspicious at all... "Let's see what we got here."

Moving her scope to line up to the scene down below, she caught one of the guys showing off a picture to another. The subject of the picture made her seize up briefly. It was a picture of Zoe. Within moments, the guards were running into the building. Instead of panicking, however, she actually smirked, aiming the scope up to the top floor again, this time pointed straight at the elevator doors.

"Like fish in a barrel," she commented to herself. The only thing that could make this any sweeter would be a toothpick to chew between her teeth while she laid down some cover fire.

Zoe was seen speaking to the man in a low voice. She couldn't afford to have the guards hearing her questions after all, she had to make it seem like everything was normal and cool. Hookers weren't really expected to ask a lot of questions after all. Zoe of course had no idea what was coming for her yet, so she kept her questions up. She WAS going to find where these assholes were keeping her father after all, she would stop at nothing to get him back.

It took a solid minute but soon the elevator doors started to open and one of the guards started to yell at the two that were right by the door to the office. IT was only a moment later that one of them started to reach for the door handle.

Zoe seemed to hear what was going on and quickly spun herself so that their boss was between her and their rain of bullets. If they killed their boss, they wouldn't get paid after all. She also reached down to his side and picked up the pistol he had strapped to his left hip. If they were going to come in, they were going to have to REALLY fight for their boss.

The guys that came through the elevator didn't get much of a chance to warn the guys at the door. Shortly after they raised the alarm, sniper bullets were ripping into their bodies, mostly non-lethal, yet crippling shots aimed at their limbs. Zoe was right; this thing was amazing. It was so accurate that she could aim for their elbows and kneecaps and hit every single time, and she didn't even have a lot of experience with sniping. She quickly turned her sights on the guys at the door next, taking aim and firing at them. No way she was letting them get to Zoe.

The bullets began to tear through the men's armor like they weren't even wearing any. Not only was their little recoil on this gun, but it was fast and powerful. Many of them were down screaming in just seconds as Rose's bullets did their damage. As the men came down Zoe slowly stood up and pulled the man with her. She turned his face towards the window and pressed him against it before whispering something in his ear. She had just told him that the sniper was a friend of hers, and would fire upon him in ten seconds unless she gave the signal. The man's mouth moved quickly, apparently giving all of the information that Zoe wanted.

The moment that he stopped moving though Zoe gave a small smile and nod. It was only than that she kicked on his back and sent him flying out the window. It wasn't long till he made a crash and left a rather bloody imprint upon the ground. After that Zoe was quick to grab her gun and made her way in to the hallway. She went down the stairs and soon emerged out of the building. She gave a small salute in Rose's direction before heading down to a nearby alley.

Zoe soon popped up on the roof again, moving quickly to catch up to Rose as she buttoned up the white shirt that she had retrieved from wherever she left it. "That was some nice shooting there slick," she said before attaching her belt once again. "Quite the nick piece of work isn't it?"

Rose continued to watch carefully, once all the goons were taken out. Apparently, the guy was now in the process of spilling all the information that he knew, which meant a job well done on their part. And then... Zoe kicked him through the window. Rose blinked a couple times in surprise, then took her eye off toe scope to watching the man plummet to the streets below, landing with a sickening smack on the pavement. Alright, that was officially... brutal. Swallowing briefly, Rose stepped back from the ledge and took her weapon down, waiting for Zoe's return. When the girl finally made it back up onto the roof, she handed the rifle back over, since she didn't need it anymore right now. "Uh, yeah thanks. That was some pretty good, uh... window kicking. And yeah, that thing works like magic."

She paused a moment, then folded her arms and shifted her weight a little. "So, um... for what it's worth," she started, clearing her throat, "you looked really good in that outfit. I mean, you know, all things considered... you pulled it off."

"Why thank you. I'm hoping that the gang has a bit of an internal power struggle with one of their head boys dead," Zoe explained. "The longer that I can keep them confused the less likely that they'll be on to us," she explained as she took the sniper rifle away and tucked it in to her large bag. There was still a ton of other stuff in there that Rose couldn't get a look at. Apparently Zoe just really wanted to keep the surprise for later.

"Thanks again for having my back, without you I'm not sure if I could have taken those guys down myself," she said before slipping the bullet proof vest on once again before buttoning her shirt back up and taking the weapons that she had discarded before and placing them on her person once again. As Rose made the compliment, Zoe just stared at her for a few moments. "Well...thanks," she said as she put on her suit jacket once again. "Just don't tell my dad that I did that, I'll never hear the end of it even if I do save his life," she said with a small laugh as she placed her large bag over her shoulder once again.

"The good news is, my dad's alive and I know where he is Rose," Zoe said with a smile on her face. "We're so close, just one more step and I'll be able to hug him again."

"Right, I promise not to say anything," Rose said, holding up her finger in a scout's honor salute. Not that she was ever in the scouts, obviously. But hey, it might mean something to Zoe, you never know. "I don't think my dad would ever appreciate me wearing something like that, either... he was pretty strict." She let out a long breath, then placed her hands on her hips and watched as Zoe finished getting fixed up so they could get going. "Good, then let's get a move on so we can save your dad. Believe me, I know what it's like to want to hug your dad again."

"Appreciate it," Zoe said honestly. Her father wouldn't punish her or anything, but he would probably kill at least another fifty men if he knew that even one of them had tried to touch his daughter while she was dressed like that. As Rose spoke about her father, Zoe glanced back at the girl and stopped making her way to the edge of the building. This girl had done so much for her, including probably saving her life. The least that Zoe could do was listen.

"Would you hate me if I asked what happened to him?" Zoe asked simply.

When Zoe stopped walking, only to turn around again, Rose gave the girl a curious look, wondering what was causing her to stop. And then when the question came, Rose shrank back slightly, arms coming around herself and gaze falling towards the ground. Slowly, her eyes closed, a deep breath exuding from her lips. "No, I... wouldn't hate you for asking," she said. "I mean, if you really want to know, I... it's complicated, I guess. Heck, I'm not even sure what happened to him." Sighing again, she walked forward and then sat on the parapet of the roof, leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees.

"He'd just retired, you know?" she started to explain. She wasn't even sure why she was telling Zoe this, maybe just because she really liked her. "He was going to be spending more time at home, more time with me. And for those first couple of days, he did, and it was great. But then..." She went quiet for a moment, taking in a deep breath and trying to hold her emotions together. "Some... guy came to our house one day. I don't know who it was, but he... he shot my mom. He killed her. He almost killed me, too, but my Dad stopped him. But then he shot my dad, and then... then took him. He knocked my Dad out and took him in his car, then drove off. Not before burning my house to the ground, though..."

Another moment of silence, as Rose raised her hands to her face, absently rubbing her eyes. "But then I saw my Dad a few weeks later, right here in the city. Only... only he was different. He blew up a building... killed a lot of people. And then... then he tried to kill me, too, when I ran up to him. They must have done something to him, because my Dad would never hurt people like that. He's a good man, and he'd only ever helped people. I... I know he's still good. He has to be." Swallowing back a lump in her throat, Rose looked up and shrugged. "But I haven't seen him in six months now. I don't even know if he's still alive."

Zoe was quick to move next to Rose and sit down next to her on the parapet. Part of her wanted to rush off as fast as she could to find her father, but another part of her knew that she needed to hear Rose out. This girl had probably just saved Zoe's life after all, the least that she could do was listen to what happened to her and her father. After all, it might be the single motivating factor that made Rose want to help Zoe in the first place. It was only when Rose heard who Zoe was looking for that she offered to help.

"My god, that sounds terrible," Zoe admitted as she heard about the break in that killed her mother and caused someone to take her father. No wonder Rose didn't mind how Zoe worked, she probably agreed that people like that man needed to die on the spot. The information behind this girl was starting to make more sense than ever.

"City Hall," Zoe said softly to herself before looking over at Rose. "I wasn't in town when it happened, but it was all over the news when that bomb went off," she said quietly to herself. There was no need to repeat the information right to Rose's face. Zoe was just silent for a moment as Rose finished her story. Finally she turned and glanced at Rose. "You know, my dad has a lot of friends in high places. Maybe he can try to do a bit of digging to help you find your dad?" she offered. "It's the least that I can do for you."

Rose stared at the ground for a few moments after finishing her story. It was dumb, the way she'd just spit it all out like that. Zoe probably thought she had some real issues or something. Not that it should come as a surprise, considering she probably really did have a lot of issues. When Zoe went on to say that her dad could help, when they found him, Rose finally lifted her gaze back up towards her. At first, she was quiet, just blinking a couple of times. Eventually, she nodded a couple times, smiling. "Thanks..." she said, as her hand absently drifted over to rest over Zoe's.

"You don't need to thank me," Zoe said as her fingers locked with Rose's for a few moments. "It's what any good friend would do," she added as she smiled at Rose and held her gaze for several moments. After a moment though she glanced across the way that she had come from, able to see the pile of dead men that Rose had destroyed with the sniper rifle. "You really do fire a good shot," Zoe said before she let go of Rose's hand and stood up. "If you're up for it, we have one last stop today. And I promise you, there's going to be a LOT of people that will need an ass kicking. Still up for it?" she asked with a small grin upon her face.

(so apparently you posted last night. I had no idea))

Rose looked down at their hands for a moment, when Zoe interlocked their fingers. It was a strange feeling, the way her heart started to flutter, and the pang of nervousness that surged through her gut. She couldn't say she'd ever felt this way before. What the hell did it mean? Swallowing back a lump in her throat, she lifted her gaze back towards the building across from them as well, where the men she had shot were still down. They weren't dead, though, rather crippled for life, most likely. Unless, of course, a couple of them bled out before receiving proper medical attention, but it was their own fault for trying to shoot her friend. When Zoe let go of her hand, Rose stood up and held her arms lightly across her chest, then gave a small, slow nod. "Yeah... I think I'm ready kick a whole lot of ass."