Coincidences (IC)

[Agent A]

It had been a fairly routine thing, or as routine as these kind of things got. Carter had hit a small drug running operation; just the pusher and a few enforcers, nothing too fancy, but he got caught wind of it the last couple nights, and this was the night they would have most of the product in-house from the routine he had picked up on in his stake-out. They were trying to use secrecy in place of real security, and it didn't work out too well for them in the end. Besides a couple punches and a cut or two, Carter had managed to take them out without a good deal of trouble. One of them had tried to leave his friends and run for it, and had made it out of the trainyards and into the streets of Greenbank proper, Carter hot on his heels. This guy must have ran track or something.

Carter began to dig deep, breaking into a sprint after the gangbanger. He dug a hand into his pack as best he could without breaking stride, looking for a bola to throw in a last ditch effort to bring him down. Soon, he was going to have to go back and secure the others for when the cops got there...eventually, and let this one go. Hopefully, he could prevent that. Getting the product off the streets was the main goal, but getting these men off the streets was something as well.

Carter began to take aim on the move. This was going to take a miracle...

[Electra]

Just as he thought that, a flash of blue and gold seemed to fall out of the sky right in front of Carter. It hit the pusher like a ton of bricks, knocked him to the ground and rolled him over twice, and then resolved into a young woman, probably not even Carter's age, with the thug in a solid submission hold. "D'ja lose something?" she asked Carter with a half smile, looking him up and down assessingly.

[Agent A]

It was all Carter could do not to trip and fall as he skidded to a stop in front of the rather abrupt entrance of a third party into the equation. "Holy..." Carter's mouth gaped at the scene in front of him, though it was only partially evident under the bandanna that served as his mask. Recovering quickly, he nodded quickly, his signature smile coming to his face under said mask. "Yup, that one was mind. Next time I ask for a miracle, I'm going to ask for a Porsche and a million dollars, too. Not that you're a bad miracle, mind. More pretty girls should fall on dudes I have to chase."

Removing a length of rope from his pack, Carter moved over to kneel next to the man. "I'll take that off your hands." When she moved off of the man, he placed a knee into his back, beginning to hog-tie him. After tying him up, Carter threw him over his shoulder, none too gently, as he stood up. He nodded his head towards the trainyards. "I got a couple more of these guys back there that I better watch until Freedom's finest show up." Carter ran a hand through his hair awkwardly; this was the first honest-to-goodness hero he had met, and he wasn't really sure what to do. "I...wouldn't mind the help watching them, if you've got the time."

[Electra]

Erin watched as the slightly winded hero neatly tied up the thug and picked him up. He seemed to know what he was doing, for all that one had gotten away. "Sure," she said with a shrug, falling in with him as he walked. She'd just been patrolling anyway, and this was the most exciting thing that had happened all evening. "Doesn't usually take the police to show up around here, but weekends are weird sometimes. I'm Wander," she added. "Who are you?"

[Agent A]

Carter couldn't contain his grin when Wander agreed to follow him. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, and was trying to run them through his head when he realized that she had actually asked him one. "Huh? Oh, right. Drifter will work. That's what the papers call me, anyway. I kind of like it; it's a little John Wayne, isn't it?" The thug tried to squirm, causing Carter to look back at him. "Hey! Keep it down back there. I could have hit you with the stick instead of tying you up. Don't make me change my mind." The man seemed to take the advice, and stopped trying to squirm out of his grip.

At the entrance to the old trainyards, Carter began to weave his way back, keeping an eye out to the old switching station that the group was using. "So...that was a pretty cool move back there, good that you got there when you did. You can fly, or something? You're stronger than you look, at the very least. Guy here never had a chance." Carter hoped that didn't sound as awkward as it felt saying it, but he wasn't really sure how he was supposed to handle this kind of thing.

[Electra]

"No flying, but I jump well enough to fake it sometimes," Wander told him. "And I'm strong and fast. It looked like you almost had him, but I thought I'd give you a hand. Is this where you usually work? I've been trying to get around to different parts of the city, but I haven't met many other heroes yet while I'm doing it. Freedom City's a lot bigger when you're covering every street of it on foot, y'know?"

[Agent A]

"I don't know if I'm much of a hero, but I usually stick to Greenbank. Not a lot of people watch out for this neighborhood. I try to do what I can, you know?" Carter made his way up to the switching station, kicking open the door the rest of the way and making his way in. Five men were strewn about the floor, unconscious. Carter tossed the man onto the floor with the rest of them, again taking no pains for his comfort. Taking more rope out of his pack, Carter began to tie the rest of the men up.

"Just a small drug operation, nothing big time. Be good to keep it off the streets, at least." Carter made his way around the room, getting the rest of the men before pulling up a box, indicating it for Wander to sit on. "Here you go...Wander, right? Might as well get comfortable." Pulling up another box, Carter sat down, relaxing slightly. He chuckled softly, leaning forward. "This kind of thing is probably way under your league, huh? Best I can give you is a nice break between fighting aliens and super-villains, or whatever you do." He leaned forward, placing an elbow on his knee. "So, you, uh, on one of those teams or anything like that? Like the Freedom League or anything like that?"

[Electra]

Erin watched curiously as Drifter tied up the miscreants. She needed to learn to do that sometime, it would come in really handy to not have to try and knock everyone unconscious without actually hurting them. Taking a seat, she kept one eye on the tied up pushers while she talked to the other hero. "I'm on Young Freedom," she told him, then smiled the same half smile. "I'm easy to miss, though, I usually stand in the back for the pictures. And most of us do patrol like this, but I'm usually lucky if I take down one thief or thug in a night. Getting a half dozen is a good haul."

[Agent A]

"Oh yeah! I heard of you guys. Well hey, I definitely don't mind professional help watching Greenbank, don't worry. I might get a good night of sleep for once." He looked around when she mentioned their numbers. "Huh? Oh, yeah. You've just got to know where to look to find these guys. I've been watching this place for a while now." He jerked a thumb towards the back room. "This is the night they bring in the new shipments, so we've got plenty of evidence back there."

Carter ran a hand over his hair again. "I've been doing this for a few years. I'm getting pretty good at tracking these guys, and I know where to find the info, you know? I keep my ear to the ground around here." He leaned back, looking over the room before turning back to Wander. "I mean, it's nothing like what you guys do, though. Like, those big monsters or whatever? I couldn't do that." Carter stopped himself, chuckling softly. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I've just never met a real hero before, yeah? This made my month."

[Electra]

"Hey, having powers doesn't make someone a 'real' hero," Wander retorted, "that's the first thing they drum into us at... in training. It's about what you decide to do with your life. You spend your time tracking down and taking out bad guys, risking your own neck, and don't ask for any reward. That's enough to make you a hero. Most of the time we're so busy training and traveling and all sorts of stuff, we don't have time to do investigating like you do that brings down whole criminal operations." She grinned at him. "Not that I'd have the first idea how to do that, anyway. How long you been doing this?"

[Agent A]

Carter caught Wander's slip, but didn't make a mention of it. He wasn't exactly one who was completely open about himself, either. He adjusted his makeshift mask over his face as he continued to speak. "I know, but still, I'm not like Foreshadow or the Raven. I'm just a guy who got tired of seeing his neighborhood getting messed up." He leaned back on his box, looking around. "Well, I'll give you an example, take a look at this. There's always pushers around, right? Now, normally, they're either mob, or they're with one of the gangs, which usually amounts to the same thing. These guys, they were too small time to be direct for the mob, right? And they don't fly gang colors. So that means they're freelance, but they're moving lots of product into the streets, so they have someone bankrolling them. Probably a small-time capo looking to advance himself quietly using outside help; no proof, but just a guess."

Carter jerked a thumb at the smallest of the men in the room. "I see this guy pushing, and I got curious, tail him for a bit; hoping to find his supplier. Turns out they're moving through the train yards. I stake the place out, watch how they operate a couple nights. Then, when I know they've got the stuff, I plan the bust. Honestly, once you learn how to find the leads to begin with, following them is the easy part. And that's just training your eyes to spot them and knowing who to ask."

Carter leaned back again. "I've been doing this...4 years now?" Carter shrugged. "Something like that. I learned how to do it the hard way, I guess. Nothing better than real experience to learn what works and what doesn't. A lot less gets away from me now than it used to."

[Electra]

"Wow, how old are you?" Wander blurted, realizing too late that it probably seemed rude. "I mean, if you started four years ago, that takes a lot of dedication to keep going that long. Especially if they start coming after you for busting up their operations. And working alone is tough business. Have you thought about joining the police or the STAR Squad or anything like that?"

[Agent A]

Carter debated whether he wanted to say how old he was for a moment. He wasn't sure, but he decided at the end it wouldn't hurt. He wasn't the only black guy his age in this city, he wagered. "...Just turned 19 a couple months ago. So yeah, started when I was...15? Sounds right to me. I guess I didn't have the best upbringing?" Carter shook his head when she mentioned police. "I wouldn't cut it as a cop. Besides, someone has to look out for this neighborhood, and I couldn't do that if I was a boy in blue, you know? And the cops don't like Drifter too much."

Carter took off his pack, grabbing one of his balanced stones and tossing it to himself as he spoke. "I like what I do. It doesn't make headlines, but I like to think I make a little bit of a difference, you know? It's what keeps me out here every night, I guess. Keep drugs and guns off the street, maybe bust a few gangbangers or mobsters from time to time. There's a lot of good people out here, you know? Most of them are just scared. They need someone to go to bat for them. Might as well be me."

Carter smiled under his mask again, shaking his head. "I'm rambling, sorry. I guess I don't get to talk to anyone much. This kind of thing doesn't leave much time for a social life. I guess you can relate, though."

[Electra]

"It does keep you busy," Wander agreed, though she had kind of an odd expression on her face as she did so. "There's really not much time for anything else when you do hero work full time. Still, it's good to at least try to get out and have fun sometimes." She looked over at him, remembering something he'd said earlier. "You've been doing this four years and you've never met a uniformed hero before?"

[Agent A]

Drifter shrugged. "I'm small time, and there's not a lot of capes in this part of town. Most of them don't go looking for the kinds of things I go looking for...no offense, of course. I don't really move in those circles, I guess. So no, you're the first. Like I said, this is pretty cool." Carter shifted forward on his box, sitting on the edge. "I don't really go looking for them, though. I figure they've got bigger things to worry about than me. I get by ok. Only had to stitch myself up a couple times, yeah?" Carter smiled under his mask. "But I'm not really interesting. I'm more interested in the kinds of things you do. You've got to have some kind of stories, right?"

[Electra]

"Yeah, some, we've done some weird stuff since I joined Young Freedom," Wander allowed. "A lot of what we do isn't even really in this universe, or it's trying to keep this universe from being overwritten or overrun by others. You're sort of right that it's kind of nice to go out patrolling and not find anything some nights. This one time, we were over on Erde, the Nazi world, and..."

Her story was interrupted by the wail of police sirens. "Sounds like your pickup is here," Wander told Drifter, looking over at the bound criminals. "Listen, you work this area all the time, right? I'll stop by sometime again and bring some of my friends, I'll introduce you to them and maybe we can talk more. They tell stories better than I do anyway."

[Agent A]

Carter didn't notice as he leaned in slightly, waiting for Wander to tell the story she was launching into. He looked up as the wails of sirens interrupted her, feeling a twinge of disappointment. "Yeah, I should probably bail too. Cops aren't too fond of vigilante types like me. Guess they don't like us unregistered guys or whatever doing their jobs?" He walked back to the second door, opening it so that the drugs were easy to find. He turned to Wander again. "I'd like that. Just kind of be around. If they're anything like you, I'm guessing they'll be easy to find, yeah?"

Carter walked over to a side window, preparing to open it, before pausing. "...Hey, I know you're probably way out of my league when a fight breaks out. But if you guys need a bloodhound, just come find me. I might be able to help out or something." Opening a window, Carter removed his grapple gun from his belt. Nodding to Wander, he clamored out through the window, firing the gun and wrapping it around the nearest light pole. He was up and gone, running along the tops of the abandoned train cars away from the scene. Despite how sore he was, a smile played on his lips. This was a good night, no question.