#i’m on a bench in the space between the parking garages for a target and a whole foods

[justsomeguycore]

all the dogs in this alley want my starbucks bacon sausage egg wrap

[jedi-mabari]

Powers

Word Count: 3753 Warning: I can’t really think of one outside of far cry typical violence.  A/N: This is a Powers Au which I got the idea for from the wonderful @goodboiboomer-fc5 and I even mention her Catalina Rojas a couple of times as a launch point for a couple of small plot points. I hope you enjoy!

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Summary: Jacob Seed goes to meet Percy, a contact from Project of Ethereal Guardians, but has to save her when things go sideways when she gets found out as a mole. ______________________________________________________________

Jacob knew meeting an agent from the Project of Ethereal Guardians was a risk, even if the agent was his old partner from the Order of the Silent Fang. Jacob slowed his breath, focusing on the crowd for anyone who seemed out of place. It was good that the plaza was crowded because that meant that the he and the agent could blend in, but even if a freight train had ripped through the plaza, he'd have been able to spot her. Jacob's eyes landed on her through a gap in the crowd.

Percy was dressed casually, a denim jacket over a dark t-shirt to cut the chill of the wind, dark jeans, and boots. She blended into the crowd perfectly, and Jacob found himself glad that she hadn't lost that skill since joining the Project.

Jacob watched as she walked up to the coffee stand near the sidewalk and ordered something to drink. As she waited for the coffee to be made, she casually glanced around, making a quick scan of the crowd. She was assessing the crowd, like they had been trained to do when they were in the Order together. She turned back to the barista when her coffee was ready, and dropped some money in the young woman's hand as she took her coffee. She casually scanned the plaza like she was searching for a place to sit.  She walked over to the bench Jacob was on and sat down leaving enough space between them that they looked like strangers sharing a bench.

"Have you been waiting long," she asked from behind her cup, pretending to take a sip.

"About fifteen minutes," he said, his eyes skimming over an article about the dangers of unregistered powers. He rolled his eyes and flicked the pages, straightening them out as his eyes jumped to another article. "So, what's the intel?"

"The project's making moves against free cells," she explained, her long delicate fingers running over the ridges of the cozy around the middle of her cup. "They haven't keyed me in on the details yet, plans are still in the early stages, but I know it's something big." Jacob shook his head, taking a deep breath.

"How serious do you think this is going to be?" Percy crossed her knees and her foot began to bounce. It was a habit he noticed she had when they worked together for the Order of the Silent Fang. The tick got worse the more uncomfortable she was.

"I can't really tell, but I do know that you and your siblings all have targets on your backs. They've haven't figured you four as the ringleaders of the resistance, but they're really gunning for John after he snagged Rojas right from under them." Jacob shook his head again, cursing under his breath.

"I'll make sure they know," he said, turning the page of his newspaper. Percy's foot didn't stop bouncing, indicating there was still something bothering her.

"I should go," she said, taking an actual drink of her coffee, uncrossing her knees to stand up.

"Things are getting to hot," Jacob said, and Percy stayed sitting. "We need to extract you." Percy spared at look at Jacob, her eyes searching his face.

"Not until I know what they're planning," she argued, standing up. Jacob's brow furrowed with concern, but he didn't say anything more about pulling her out of the Project. She looked down at her watch and shook her head. "I have to meet my handler," she said, standing up.

"Be safe, Percy," Jacob said, and she gave him her most charming smile.

"I always am." He couldn't see her eyes, but Jacob could tell she was still nervous. She dropped her still full coffee into the trash and disappeared back into the crowd, leaving an unmarked file on the bench in her place. Jacob heard the static in his ear, meaning his earpiece was live, and having not heard the muffled click, it must have come on while he was talking with Percy. He discretely slid the file into his newspaper, his eyes flicking over the words on the page without reading them.

"How long have you been listening?" He remained seated, but his eyes had moved from the pages of the newspaper to scan the square again.

"Long enough that we're already packing," Joseph said. "You shouldn't have let Percy leave. If they find out she's the one that told us about Catalina there's no telling what they'll do." Jacob knew, but only because he'd worked with an agency that had the occasional mole.

"Will the den be empty by the time I get there?"

"If Faith would get her rear in gear," John sniped, and he let out a yelp when something hit him.

"Shut up John! You have more stuff than I do." Jacob rolled his eyes and could hear the frustration in Joseph's voice when he spoke.

"Yes, the den will be empty. Please hurry," he said, "and be safe, brother."

"I'm on my way," Jacob sighed, tapping the mic to turn it off. He stood from the bench, folding his newspaper and tucking it under his arm, securing the folder. He walked away from the bench, heading to the parking garage where he left his truck. As he walked up the stairs, he could hear two people arguing.

"Your contract has been terminated, agent Hunt," a man said, his voice low and full of a humor that made the hair on the back of Jacob's neck stand up. He crept closer, keeping low so he wouldn't be spotted. "You knowingly betrayed the Project, and the consequences for your actions are death."

"How did you find out, Howl," Percy asked, taking a step back from him as he pulled out a gun, pulling back the slide. Jacob recognized the name from some of Percy's reports. Howl was her Project handler, and from what he had read, the man was ruthless.

"We've known there was a leak for quite some time," he said, leveling the gun to Percy's head. "It took a little digging, and I'll admit that you had us on the rope for a while, but with John Seed taking Rojas, the only agent that couldn't be accounted for was you. After a little more digging, we found your connection to Jacob Seed, back in your Silent Fang days. Then it was just a waiting game. You just had to set up a drop with your contact, and we'd have them followed back to their little hide out." Jacob's blood turned cold, and he glanced behind him. There was no one there yet, but that didn't mean he wasn't followed into the garage.

"So you're just going to kill me," Percy asked, her voice even and calm. Howl laughed and shook his head.

"No, we still have plans for you, Percilla," he said, and Jacob could hear his shit eating grin. "Just because we're terminating your contract, doesn't mean we don't have a use for you." Howl pulled the trigger and the shot rang through the garage. It spurred Jacob into action. He leaped out from behind the car, dropping the folder Percy had left him as he pulled his pocket knife out of his pocket, expertly flicking it into Howl's shoulder.

He shouted in pain and spun to face Jacob. Percy was laying on the ground, her body seizing as blood began to pool below her. Jacob pushed that out of his mind and focused on his target. Howl glared at him, lifting his gun to take down Jacob. Jacob moved smoothly, stepping forward to disarm the Project handler, tossing the gun to the ground and twisting his arm behind his back, causing the knife to twist in his shoulder. Howl struggled, but Jacob didn't remove his arm from around his neck. Jacob gave his arm a jerk, breaking the man's neck. He pulled the knife from Howl's shoulder and wiped it clean on his shirt. He ran to Percy, kneeling next to her.

She had stopped seizing, and when Jacob touched her to roll her onto her back, there was no electrical current. There was a hole in her jacket in the middle of a large bloom of red that was spreading. Jacob pushed the jacket away from her shoulder, flinching at the sight of so much of her blood.

"What the fuck was that," Jacob asked, and Percy gripped his shoulder.

"It's a preventative measure," she said, gritting her teeth. "We have to move." Jacob glanced around and helped her to her feet.

"Can you walk," he asked, and she tensed for a moment, but nodded her head. As Percy made her way to the truck, Jacob ran back to the spot where he'd dropped the file, and returned to the truck. Before he climbed into the truck, he dug the ear piece out of his ear and crushed it with the heel of his boot. Percy had into the passenger seat, and was struggling to remove her jacket.  Jacob glanced over at her and took a deep breath, starting the truck. As he pulled out of the garage, Percy chucked her jacket out of the window.

"They won't follow you," Percy said, pressing her hand into her shoulder to try and stop the bleeding. "Howl didn't have time to secure me and call in back up." Jacob nodded, his eyes flicking between the road and Percy.

"Are you going to be able to get that out?" Percy shrugged her injured shoulder and let out a painful gasp, shaking her head.

"Howl must have used a dum-dum," she said, pressing down again. Jacob bristled, his eyes focusing on the road. They drive a while, Percy passing in and out of consciousness, her head resting on the window. When they had worked together with the Fangs she had snored, and he remembered thinking it was annoying, but now it was worrying that she didn't snore. After several hours of driving, Jacob pulled over onto the side of the road, making sure they were alone before he turned off the truck. He jumped out and moved around to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Wake up," Jacob said, giving Percy's knee a shake. She jolted awake, letting out a gasp of pain as she sat up. "Come on, let's get that out of you." Percy turned towards him, resting the heels of her boots on the edge of the truck, shaking her head to try and wake up.

"Give me your knife," she yawned, holding her hand out. Jacob reached into his pocket and dropped the knife into her hand. She flicked the blade open, swiping it off on her jeans to make sure it was clean before pressing it into her shoulder. She flinched as the tip of the blade hit the bullet. It wasn't in very deep, but when it impacted with her shoulder, it had flattened out almost into a perfect disk. As soon as the blade touched it, her body tensed, and the blade fell from her hand. Jacob steadied her, his hands holding onto her shoulders to keep her from falling out of the truck.

"What the fuck was that," Jacob asked, and as soon as Percy was in control of her body again, she grabbed the front of Jacob's coat, catching her breath.

"Mother fucker," she rasped, her eyes screwed shut. She took a deep, shaky breath. "It's not a dum-dum." She spoke mostly to herself, as he slowly caught her breath, the only thing keeping her hands from shaking were the fact that they were clutching onto Jacob.

"Then what the fuck is it?"

"It's got to be a pip," she explained, shaking her head. Jacob narrowed his eyes in confusions, shaking his head.

"A what?"

"Piezoelectric incapacitation projectile. It's their latest project, it's in the file. I wasn't aware they actually got it working." Jacob picked up his knife, wiping it clean again.

"How dangerous is it?" Percy reached up with her good hand, grabbing a hold of the overhead handle and took a deep breath as Jacob careful began to make an incision in her shoulder.

"The idea is to incapacitate the target without doing much damage. It's a small caliber bullet designed to little damage while also disabling the target." She explained what it was through gritted teeth while Jacob carefully made an incision large enough to get his fingers around the bullet.

"Sorry," he said before sticking his finger into her shoulder. Percy turned away, gritting her teeth as Jacob worked to dislodge the bullet. When it dislodged, Percy let out a scream, ending in a relieved gasp as Jacob pulled it out of her arm. She rested her forehead against her arm, taking several deep breaths to try and calm down to focus anything but the pain in her shoulder.

Jacob had seen Percy heal herself on several occasions. As she slowed her breath and began to focus, and Jacob sat back and watched as the injury began to heal. It never really settled well with him the way the muscle would stitch back together, so he looked down at the bloody bullet in his hand. When Percy's shoulder was healed, she looked up at Jacob who was studying the bullet, turning it over between his fingers.

"You should leave that here," she said, sounding as worn out as she looked. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion. Jacob nodded and flicked it into the bushes.

"Are you okay," he asked and she rolled her shoulder. She flinched as she wiped some blood from her arm.

"It'll be fine," she said, and Jacob nodded and cleaned his knife on his pants.

"We should get back on the road," he sighed, looking up and down the length of the road. Percy nodded and scooted back into her seat, tucking her knee back under the dash. She scooted down so she could rest her head against the seat as Jacob climbed into the driver seat. She was asleep before they were back on the road.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time Jacob pulled into a rest area, Percy was awake and rubbing her shoulder. She hadn't said anything since they'd pulled over and removed the bullet, but as far as Jacob could remember, that wasn't unusual. He parked under a light and turned off the truck, twisting until he was facing Percy.

"You need to clean up," he said, reaching under the seat, pulling out a backpack. "They're all mine, but you should be able to find a shirt to cover your arm." Percy nodded and grabbed the bag, sliding out of the truck. Jacob got out with her, meeting her at the front of the truck before they walked towards the bathroom.

"Did you notice anyone following?" Jacob shook his head as he walked her to the bathroom.

"No, but there's still the chance that we could have been." He looked around, trying to spot any sign that they had been followed. But he didn't see any cars on the road, and they were alone at the rest area. Percy glanced around as well before entering the bathroom. Jacob headed for the payphone near the truck. He dropped some coins into the slot and dialed John's number and he picked up after one ring.

"What the hell happened, Jacob," he demanded, obviously worried.

"Put Joseph on the phone," Jacob said, ignoring his question.

"What," John asked, and Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Now, John." There was a pause, and Jacob heard John call for their brother.

"What happened Jacob? You have been radio silent since this afternoon. Where are you?"

"I'm at a rest stop in Georgia," he said, looking around to make sure he was still alone. "That's a specific as I can be right now. Are you still at the den?"

"No," he said, and Jacob let out a sigh of relief. "We've moved, and if you aren't on a secure line, I'll have Faith contact you with our location."

"Great. We're going to get a motel tonig-"

"'We'?" Jacob glanced at the bathroom where Percy was and let out a slow breath through his nose.

"Yeah, Percy was compromised. They found out she was a mole and tried to neutralize her." He thought back to the pip bullet he had dug out of her shoulder and had to shake it from his mind. The air between the phones hummed with the quiet static as Joseph thought.

"Is she alright," he asked finally and Jacob nodded.

"Yeah, she's alright. She got shot, but it healed, so she's fine." He tensed when he saw a car pull into the rest area, watching as it circled around the lot. It parked on the other end of the row, but no one got out. "Look, Joseph, I've got to go. Have Faith tell me where you guys are in about an hour, give us time to make sure we won't be followed."

"Be safe, brother," Joseph said, hanging up the phone. Jacob placed the phone back in it's cradle and turned back to the bathroom. He took a step towards it as Percy stepped out. She had pulled her hair up so it was off her shoulders. She looked much more rested now, her eyes bright and shining in the low light of the rest area, even from down by the truck. She walked down to meet him, stopping next to the payphone.

"How much longer before we get to the den," she asked, and Jacob shook his head, gesturing to the truck. She followed him into it, climbing into the passenger seat.

"We aren't going to the den," he explained, starting the truck. "Faith's going to be getting us the new location in about an hour. We should get moving again." Percy sat back in her seat and rubbed her hands over her face. Her knee was bouncing, and it didn't go unnoticed by Jacob. "We'll stop in the next town to get some rest and buy new clothes." Percy nodded her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The motel room was small, but they managed to get two beds into it. They had those tacky, itchy comforters often found in cheap motels But Jacob had identified it as a safe place for resistance members. It wasn't as fancy has John would have found, but it had hot, running water, the beds, though lacking springs, were more comfortable than the cramped truck cab. Percy had gone straight for the shower, and Jacob sat down at the small table and began looking though the folder that had started the string of today's horrible events.

There were schematic's for the pip bullet and the gun needed to fire it, but it was dated a few weeks old, meaning if they had succeeded in building it, it wasn't directly off these plans. The bullets looked more like spell work than science, so maybe John would have a better understanding of it. He flipped it over in the open file, pulling up the next paper. It was just status reports, but he read over them carefully, picking out little bits of useful information to remember.

Percy came out of the bathroom wearing one of Jacob's t-shirts, having no change of clothes herself. She sat in the chair across from Jacob, resting her chin in her hand. Jacob was resting his head on the closed file. He looked up at her, his eyes heavy from lack of sleep. He blinked slowly at Percy. He sat up and leaned back in his chair.

They sat in silence, both of them tired and ready to go to bed, but they had to wait for Faith. She was late, but only by a half hour. It wasn't anything to be worried about yet. Joseph may have had her setting up their network in the new den. Jacob was about to walk over to the phone and call when the room filled with the sweet smell that often accompanied Faith.

"Jacob," she called, flying across the room. She stopped just before colliding with him, remembering that she couldn't actually embrace her brother. Percy had never actually met Faith before, but thanks to Jacob and the Project's intel, she knew that she was able to astral project, which is why she was standing in front of them now. She looked around, spotting Percy and she smiled. "Joseph had us set up in the den at Lick Creek, up in West Virginia. It'll be a bit of a hike, but you should be fine." She turned to Percy and smiled. "And I can't wait to actually meet you." Faith disappeared in a cloud of green, leaving behind that sweet floral scent.

"West Virginia," Percy asked, and Jacob shrugged.

"The Project doesn't have a real large presence there yet," Jacob rationalized. "It'd make sense for them to set up there." Percy rested her elbows on her knees. "We should be there late Sunday night." Now that they were no longer in immediate danger, and they had a moment of peace, they were both painfully aware how awkward the silence between them was. Percy ran her fingers over the table and let out a long sigh, glancing up at Jacob to see him staring at her.

"Yes," she asked, and Jacob blinked, looking away from her.

"Nothing," he said, looking down at his hands. "Hey, do you remember that mission in Cairo for the Fangs? When we were sent to assassinate that diplomat?" Percy chuckled and nodded

"Yeah. We had to camp out in the tiny, cramped hotel room that had a view of that plaza." She smiled as she recalled them having to share that cramped bed. Jacob laughed and reached across the small table, taking her hand in his. They both had fond memories of that mission, but it had been seven years since then, the last five of which, the two spent apart. So the casual gesture, which would have once been intimate, felt awkward and clumsy. Jacob pulled back and they both glanced away from each other.

"We have a long drive ahead of us in the morning," Jacob said, clearing his throat. They both got up and went to separate beds. Percy crawled under her blanket while Jacob slept on top of his. Jacob turned out the lights, but neither of them could sleep. So they lay in silence, thinking about what lay ahead of them.