Honor Among Thieves

[Jolene Blaylocke]

By the time Jo climbed back up into the loft, both Jax and Abigail had moved on to get some sleep. That was actually a relief as the 'reunion' between herself and Sean was going to be awkward enough, even if he didn't remember her. Not that she couldn't remind him, but so far as he knew, she was just a dancer, a tumbler who performed on a stage. She'd never even once breathed a word of her real work and now, now she was dropping him right into it by searching his records to see what the Tong might have over his head.

"Right, well, have a seat." She stepped over to her computer still nestled safely in the small carrying case that passed for a simple hard sided suitcase. Turning it, she put her back to the wall and took a seat, checking on the scans without making eye contact right away. Her lips frowned at the readings on the scan. Quickly, she typed in a few more commands, hoping to boost the search for the back trace so she could find the source and then get on with killing the tracker on board. "Assuming you haven't had too much out of that flask to sit down without falling over." Her voice gave away her distraction as the light from her screen revealed the depth of her concentration.

[Sionnach001]

Sean beamed merrily and with a firmness that he meant to be a nose tweak at those down in the galley closed the door.

He plopped himself down where indicated and crossed his legs at the ankles.

"So...here we are." he said jovially.

"Right, well, have a seat." She stepped over to her computer still nestled safely in the small carrying case that passed for a simple hard sided suitcase. Turning it, she put her back to the wall and took a seat, checking on the scans without making eye contact right away. Her lips frowned at the readings on the scan. Quickly, she typed in a few more commands, hoping to boost the search for the back trace so she could find the source and then get on with killing the tracker on board. "Assuming you haven't had too much out of that flask to sit down without falling over.

"Ahhhh lass, ye wound me," he held out the flask for her and one of his knives pressed against it underneath, blade facing toward himself, she wouldn't notice it unless she took the flask. "I'm sober as a judge!" he said a little more loudly than necessary.

"This is good stuff though, finest kind.  Have ye'reself a tug...it'll do ye wonders"  his eyes more or less screamed...take a damn drink!

[Jolene Blaylocke]

"Ahhhh lass, ye wound me. I'm sober as a judge! This is good stuff though, finest kind.  Have ye'reself a tug...it'll do ye wonders"

Jo lifted her eyes, studying Sean and noted the look in his eyes. Only a faint turn of her chin followed and then she leaned forward and reached for the flask. There was something he was saying with his eyes, but it was the feel of the knife that spelled out some of what he was saying. He did indeed recognize her, but he was insisting she take a drink. "Why so insistent on the drink? Strange man offering a girl a drink from a flask?"

Her gut told her he wouldn't have done anything to the drink in the flask, but she felt the need to be sure. He was working for the Tong, willing or not, and while they may have been told he was simply along to keep an eye on things there very well could be another plan. "After the questions, we'll see about a drink." She smiled and handed the flask back. A ping on the computer took her attention from him and she started typing, her smile growing a little larger.

"So tell me, Sionnach, otherwise called Sean Finnegan... done any long term borrowing from the wrong people lately?" Her eyes stayed fixed on her screen for several seconds, but the impish smile tugged at the corners of her lips. The turn of phrase might be one he recalled her using.

[Sionnach001]

If Sean was taken aback at the woman using his real name he was game enough not to show it.

"Well lass, it's like this y'see." he inclined his head and his eyebrows climbed in genuine regret and embarrassment, "Seems that for all me skill, planning, and research, I took a job to steal a bit of technology from what was supposed to be a small, but cuttin' edge cyber systems company.  A prototype Cortex Slicing Deck, things didn't go quite as I might've liked."

He leaned back and propped his feet up and sighed, all trace of his drunken, jovial demeanor gone...clearly, he was actually sober as a judge.

"Turns out this firm is actually either run, or heavily invested in by the Moda Tong and...readin' between the lines...they have tremendous interest in that Deck.  Furthermore, they want their interest in it completely secret...so secret that I wasn't able to turn up their connection to it during all my research on scarpin' the place. 

"So, there I am. Slick,  in an' out, doin' me usual job o' bein' a ghost.  I grab the thing, leave no trace, I bundle it up and I'm on my way to me buyer, I turn a corner and i run into a half dozen muzzles owned by some unfriendly ladies and gentlemen."

He blew out a long sigh.

"Seems they'd attached a special low spectrum radiation sensor tag to the thing and they'd been followin' me since I kipped out of the place. Figured out where I was goin', skragged me contact, and lay in wait for me.

"Fortunately, I suppose...they decided they'd rather have me work for 'em rather than string me up...or poke holes in me, or whatever the Moda do, an' here I am." he finished sourly.

"So, Miss Pixie, ye have a pretty fair advantage on me now.  An' what are we callin' you these days anyway?"

[Jolene Blaylocke]

"Fortunately, I suppose...they decided they'd rather have me work for 'em rather than string me up...or poke holes in me, or whatever the Moda do, an' here I am." he finished sourly.

Jo glanced up from her work, the smile still in place as if she was completely amused at the entire situation. She did feel a bit bad that he'd been picked up by the Tong of all people, but she had ideas brewing on how to possibly get him out of the spot he was in. "To be fair, they do have a few more people involved on their end than you do on your lonesome." It was meant to be encouraging, and to point out that it might not have been his skills that were lacking, but a resource imbalance. In her mind, that's more what had happened.

"So, Miss Pixie, ye have a pretty fair advantage on me now.  An' what are we callin' you these days anyway?"

Her smile spread into a grin at the mention of her old nickname. It was confirmation that he did remember their meeting, which made her feel better than perhaps it should have. Briefly, she glanced back to her screen and typed a few more lines. "There you are..." she said softly before looking back to Sean and extending her hand. "Figure we do this properly this time. I'm Jolene Blaylocke, but I go by Jo." For the first time since he'd come aboard, she gave him the genuine smile he'd seen when he'd been teaching her to use his throwing knives. "And no, I'm not just a girl who dances and tumbles for a living," she added with a cheeky wink.

[Sionnach001]

"Figure we do this properly this time. I'm Jolene Blaylocke, but I go by Jo." For the first time since he'd come aboard, she gave him the genuine smile he'd seen when he'd been teaching her to use his throwing knives. "And no, I'm not just a girl who dances and tumbles for a living," she added with a cheeky wink.

"Pleased te make ye're acquaintance Miss...Jo." he held out the flask again, with a mirthful but somehow serious grin, "Cheers to ye."

"As for bein' more than a dancin' tumbler, well aye, that was pretty obvious years ago. What more couldn't tell, but more was obvious."

He waited for her to take the drink or not.

"So what'd ye ask me up here for, eh?  Tryin' to sort out me business?"

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Jo took the flask finally, eyeing him before sniffing at it. It smelled alright and for some reason, despite his being 'employed' by the Tong, she trusted him. Tipping the flask up, she sampled only a tiny bit. Not what she would usually prefer to drink, but there was something... odd... about the liquid. There was no burn when she swallowed it. Her eyebrows went up as she handed it back, piecing together that it wasn't actually alcohol. "Looks like I'm not the only one with appearances to keep up."

Turning the case with her computer in it, she looked at him with a smirk. "Orders from on high, like I said. Let's just say there's a feeling that perhaps you could be persuaded to abandon the Tong in favor of the crew. Of course, I had to confess to having crossed paths with you, but it didn't seem to be a problem." On the screen were several boxes with different pieces of information on them, one of which featured what she'd been able to look up on him. One of the others was a pinpoint location on the tracker on board. "How are you at climbing? We've got a bit of a problem with a tracking device that needs to be silenced."

[Sionnach001]

"How are you at climbing? We've got a bit of a problem with a tracking device that needs to be silenced."

A wide, lunatic smile split his face.

"How am I at climbing?" his voice fairly sang. "Darlin', I've spent to much time on the ground t'day as it is."

"So what is it we're scalin' and where?"

[Jolene Blaylocke]

The smile on his face was delightful to see and mirrored on her own. Closing the computer screen, she popped open a a compartment in the case and pulled out a harness that held her tools for when she was working off of the ground. "Had to send a signal trace back first, but it's hidden behind a panel in the cargo hold. Shouldn't be difficult to remove once we get to it."

Standing up, she scooped up her hand held cortex and motioned for him to follow. She led the way back to the ladder down and checked the area to see if anyone was still awake. It looked as if most of the crew had retired, though the light was still on in the galley. Once he joined her on the deck, she headed for the cargo hold. "So about that changing your mind to favor the crew..." she glanced at him, having to look up. "Any chance you could be convinced to join?"

[Sionnach001]

Sean peered up into the area she seemed to be indicating to decide if he'd need his climbing rig while listening to her.

"So about that changing your mind to favor the crew..." she glanced at him, having to look up. "Any chance you could be convinced to join?"

"Well," he began deciding he needed a challenge though this didn't seem like a major one and opting to not use his gear.  He wouldn't admit it to himself, but confessing his recent professional catastrophe still had his ego smarting, "I don't know that this particular crew is of a mind to have Mrs. Finnegan's favorite boy join 'em, though I'd sure like t' be out from under that māmā tā mā de Tong sure an' well."

"Point out where we're tryin' te get to if ye don't mind." he said casually then added, "are we genna need any tools?"

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Jo pointed to a panel about halfway up the side of the hold. It was near one of the internal braces so it would be fairly easy to get high enough, but the traverse out onto the pipe that ran in front of the panel they needed to get to. "Basic tools for opening the panel, which I have here." Her eyes stayed on the panel for a moment as she held up the harness to show him the compartments holding their various tools.

"And as to the crew, might be that helping get rid of this particular bug might be a start in endearing 'Mrs. Finnegan's favorite boy' to them. Well," she paused and grinned as she looked over at him. "A good word from their resident cortex expert." She started to pull back her hair to keep it out of her face and only once it was secure did she shed the over large sweater, revealing the charcoal gray tank top. The harness was pulled on and she secured it and slid off her shoes.

"Come on then. Let's see how you are at climbing then."

[Sionnach001]

The lithe thief picked his path upward to the panel. He identified finger, hand, foot, and toe holds, then secondary holds in case he might slip or tire.  His long greyish green jacket slid to the floor and he shed his gray kevlar long sleeve t-shirt leaving only the sleeveless undershirt covering his long, lean torso and arms. Scars could be seen here and there telling tales of near misses and close calls from the past,

He rolled his shoulders and flexed his tabi clad feet as  his steel like grip fixed on a cooling pipe, his forearm muscles bunching as he worked his way up the wall.   His hands were tight and fixed, but he did most of the climbing with his legs...only a fool relied on the weaker shoulder muscles if they didn't have to.  He made sure to keep to his own path and not get in Jo's way as They crawled deftly a good twenty five feet over the floor of the hold.  He set his knee into the space between a flange and the wall and his foot into the gap between two fittings and pressed his palm against the panel they were after.

"Alone at last." he quipped, "Never let it be said I don't know how t' show a lady a good time"  he wasn't out of breath but there was definite exertion in his voice.

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Jo laughed at his remark as she swung herself onto the pipe that ran in front of the panel and just above it. "I don't recall complaining about the knife throwing lessons. As far as showing a girl a good time, that ranks a fair bit better than most have managed." Shifting, she moved to hang upside down once he had the panel open, which left her hands free to work. Upon seeing the device inside, she whistled softly. "Well, well, well... aren't you a pretty thing? Good bit of newer tech there..."

Stealing a glance at Sean, she pulled a couple of tools without really looking having long ago memorized where each tool was. The scars on his arms spoke of far more close scrapes than she'd ever seen. It was something she hadn't been able to see them during their first meeting, as he'd stayed far more covered that night. "Seen a few near misses by the looks of your arms. Not that it mars the view overmuch. Color me curious." The shrug she gave as she turned her attention to interrupting the signal probably looked fairly odd upside down and might even be missed from his angle.

[Sionnach001]

"Seen a few near misses by the looks of your arms. Not that it mars the view overmuch. Color me curious." The shrug she gave as she turned her attention to interrupting the signal probably looked fairly odd upside down and might even be missed from his angle.

He wasn't sure if she was trying to remove the device or turn it off, or both, so he figured he'd at least help her get at it better. He slipped a small flat head head screw driver from his belt, making sure he was secure with his foot and knee, pressed in the tip and levered the base of the transmitter upward so she had better access to it but not so far as to break anything.

"Eh," he conceded, "Ye work alone...well mostly...ye don't have back up and ye learn the hard way. Especially when ye're a young buck an' hardly know what ye're doin'.  I'm astonished I made it out of some of the things I did when I was a headstrong an' not so brilliant lad I must say."

He regarded her unblemished arms and shoulders with a smile.

"Seems ye've had a better learnin' curve."

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Quick as she could, Jo killed the signal before the device was jostled too much to register removal and send a warning to its former owners. Once that was done, she then began to work at removing the device with Sean's help. It was rare for her to work in close quarters with anyone like this so it felt a touch awkward, but not enough to limit the job getting done. His comment about her learning curve made her laugh out loud.

"To be fair, I usually hire and pay people good money to do this part of any long term borrowing I get involved in. I do all the set up, get the access codes to security or set up clearances for them and just pay them well when they've delivered." There was her confession. She was certainly more than just a dancer and a tumbler and more than just a cortex expert. Her head tilted so she could look up at him, the impish grin spreading across her face.

"Don't suppose you recall ever doing a job and being hired by someone named Pix, do you?"

[Sionnach001]

"Don't suppose you recall ever doing a job and being hired by someone named Pix, do you?"

"I have, in fact, either hired or been hired by people like you. I like that sort of information supply sort of deal." he answered soberly as he pressed his hand back to the side of the panel to anchor himself more firmly since she was done, "But no, never worked for someone named Pix."

"Seems this is genuinely our second meeting."  he observed her packing away her tools and the transmitter, and realizing he'd been an idiot with a bruised ego for being up hear without a climbing rig.  Showing off because his pride was hurt because he'd had to admit his collossal failure with the whole Moda Tong fiasco.  Your luck lately you'll fall and break your ass bone you git.

"Time to head down now, aye?"

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Carefully, Jo adjusted and moved so she was no longer upside down. Looking at him as he braced himself, she smiled and looked down, spotting her path down. "Yes, time to head back down. I have some dismantling to do before sleep." Starting to descend, she made her way down with ease, pausing here and there to secure herself and keep the bag from banging into everything along the way.

"No rest for the wicked, as the saying goes." She allowed herself a second to pause and look back at him. "If you aren't in a rush to find sleep yourself, you're welcome to sit in." Her head turned away before she could frown at herself. Normally, she worked alone, especially when working with her tech. Inviting someone to sit in was new, even for her. Still, there wasn't likely to be anyone else around that would chat with him.

[Sionnach001]

"If you aren't in a rush to find sleep yourself, you're welcome to sit in."

The climber carefully picked his way back down the wall, which in the case was actually slightly harder than coming up but not significantly, just enough to pay better attention.  He let himself drop an extra foot or two as punishment to remind himself that gravity hurt to he wouldn't be this stupid again.

"Aye lass, why not."  he mused, "Ye're somethin' of an old acquaintance, the only person on this ship that don't wanna kick me the te me da off, and I ain't sleepy anyway."  He bent to scoop his precious jacket up and shift it onto his shoulders.

"Y'know..." he stopped suddenly, "I don't do this often, but it's been sech a dīliè, rotten time of late, I think I'm gonna kip to me bunk and grab an" he looked around to make sure no one was about who could here and whispered "actual" then raised his voice again "drink."

"I'll be up directly and we'll fiddle with the transmitter thing...well...ye'll fiddle and I'll criticize how ye do it."

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Scooping up her sweater and shoes, Jo was a tad surprised he took her up on the offer. Instead of putting the sweater back on, she simply carried it and left the harness on with bag still attached as they headed back up the stairs to the crew quarters. "I might have to beg a drink off of you if it's the real stuff." Her words were low, so as not to give away his secret.

While he slipped off to his bunk, she climbed the ladder and returned to the loft. Once there, she took off the harness and set it down next to the computer case before settling. She got to work, though her mind was still turning over possible ways to convince him to stick around. Nevermind just flipping him to their side, she decided having him around would be nice.

[Sionnach001]

Sean strolled back to his bunk, giving a thorough hairy full sensory scan to each bunk door he passed; looking, listening, feeling with his skin for anything that might be of use for any reason.  He had no reason to work overly hard to fulfill his assignment for the Tong other than self preservation, and if Jo could actually get him out from under that well ta meh da them anyway, but any information was good information.  Alas, none was forthcoming, it was still a good habit to keep.

Once he'd checked his break in detection measures and, surprisingly, found that no one had entered his room, he fished a small bottle of good Kilbeggan Whiskey, re-applied his safety measures and headed back to the galley.  Once there he snagged a couple of glasses and climbed up to Jo's bunk with one hand and the other filled with the bottle and glasses.  Rather glad he hadn't bumped into Emit.  It was fun taking the piss out of a tight ass, but he wasn't entirely sure the man might not shoot him for real if he was in a bad enough mood.

"Ey, open up," he called in a low voice...no need to wake anyone who wasn't already, "Got me hands full,"