Inception - DeCosta Job

Tess paused and raised an eyebrow at Hunter. "I feel like you would be far less willing to spend the evening with me if I were to tell you everything I'm thinking." She responded with a smirk. "You might find that a woman's mind is far more sinister than you could possibly imagine."

"Besides," Tess continued, stepping past him and into the street. "I was giving you womanly advice for any future attempts you might make at picking up a date."

She took a deep breath before letting it out, blowing steam into the chilled air. "I personally prefer classical, but I can work with jazz." Tess said, coming to an abrupt stop. "So, are we walking to our destination, or?" She let the question hang in the air, but obviously it would require a response of some kind.

Hunter grinned at Tess' words. She was probably right about that. Seeing completely into anyone's mind - much less a woman like Tess' - was bound to ruin you.

"That's awfully thoughtful of you," he said, following after her into the street. "But now you're assuming that I make attempts to pick up dates."

Tess stopped abruptly, letting out a stream of warm breath into the night air. It was colder than Hunter had initially thought, and it didn't seem like Tess was too keen on that.

"I took John's car over here," he said. "I can get a cab if you don't want to walk. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

He shifted in place to block the wind from hitting her and looked around for a cab.

[OOC: You seem to be taking this quite slowly. Sure you wouldn't rather cut to the chase?]

"So, you don't date then?" Tess asked with a slight grin. "I didn't take you for a total recluse, but perhaps I was wrong..." She let the thought trail off, tapping her finger on her chin.

Her eyes widened at his next statement though. "You rode with John? I mean, I don't want to accuse you of taking liberties with your own life, but that can't be beneficial to your continued well being. If the cross-examination didn't drive you crazy, there's also the fact that he might as well have an IV line pumping alcohol into his system." She shivered at the mere thought of it.

"Walking is fine." Tess said, motioning for Hunter to take the lead. "I took the subway to get here. So, I figured that's how I'd get home later anyway. Lead the way Mr. I Don't Date." She continued with a smirk.

"I didn't say I've never dated," Hunter said, his voice a little less playful than before. "Just not currently dating."

He wasn't exactly eager to discuss those details. Fortunately, she seemed to latch onto the topic of John, and he was more than happier to shift focus.

"It wasn't that bad," he said, laughing and tucking his hands into his jacket pockets. "I mean, the first time was. Believe it or not, I'm starting to get desensitized to his psychological claptrap."

Hunter led the way down the sidewalk as requested, deciding that despite Tess' agreement to it, he would try not to take her far.

"Besides," he added, smile widening. "I have a patented method for making him shut up. Just bring up the name 'Sofie.'"

"Well, I'm sure you'll find yourself a fine woman someday." Tess responded with a grin, waving away Hunter's defensive statement. "Although you might have better luck if you didn't spend your evenings with your coworkers." She continued. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture. It is important to be on good terms with the people that you work with."

She laughed at his next statement, shaking her head back and forth. "Be careful there. John may have obvious triggers, but he's also very good at what he does. If I didn't know how to play the game, he probably would have pitched a no-hitter when we first met."

"I am curious as to what's going on between those two though. From what I know of John, it's unlike him to show that much irritation with any specific person." She glanced in Hunter's direction, dramatically twitching her eyebrows. "So, what's the dirt on them? Spill."

It was fun to see Tess worked up about John and Sofie's drama. It felt a little like being back in high school. The idea made him smile.

"Well, I wasn't with them on the job they first met," he said. "But I do know a guy who was. He gave me some of the details."

Of course, the details he'd managed to pry from Elliot had been very dry and factual, so he'd had to read between the lines.

"Sofie and John met on a job for Julian Hollingsworth. They had this sizzling love-hate kind of thing going on. They went on a date to a galleria together and spent a lot of time together during the prep for the extraction. I think John nearly messed things up - by, you know, being John - but they seemed to be on good terms by the end of the job."

They continued down the sidewalk, distracted from the cold by the juicy gossip.

"I met them on a different job, one Trevor lined up. They had that same aura going on, with the snarky, flirting, I-hate-you-but-I-kind-of-want-to-screw-you thing. But after one night, everything kind of changed. John stayed behind late at the workshop. I think Sofie might have stayed behind for him. The next day, the two could barely look at each other or exchange a word. It's been like that ever since."

During all the talk, they'd already reached the restaurant. The host brought them to a table for two and gave them their menus.

"At first, I thought maybe they hooked up and regretted it," Hunter said, continuing the conversation. "But I'm not so sure. John was saying some weird things on the job after whatever happened. Something about someone stealing from him? Or hacking? Something like that. Maybe it had nothing to do with Sofie, but the timing is a bit too coincidental, right?"

"Interesting..." Tess mused as she perused the menu. "So long as it doesn't affect their professional relationship, the two of them can do whatever they want in private. You don't think it will have any negative effects on the job, do you?"

Perhaps the strain she'd sensed between John and Sofie went deeper than she originally suspected. Instead of surface tension, the two of them might actually have a real, emotional battle going on. That could definitely lead to problems if they were forced to work together against their wills.

"I mean, obviously Trevor trusts them to get things done, but since he's not directly involved with the job, I don't want to have unnecessary tension among the crew."

"You've probably heard enough about work for now though, right?" She changed the subject, looking at Hunter over her menu. "I assume you eat here fairly often. How's the spicy Thai salad?"

Hunter grinned and shook his head. He could see Tess was worried, but there was no reason to be.

"I may not be a psych wizard like John," he said. "But I have those two figured out pretty well. The only thing worse than working together would be admitting they can't work together. They'll work extra hard to make sure everything goes off without a hitch, or it'll be admitting defeat to the other."

It wasn't exactly a healthy response, but it did the trick.

"Yeah, let's drop that," he agreed. "I'll be getting enough of John as is."

Hunter started to peruse the menu when Tess asked him about her order.

"Depends," he said, scratching his chin. "I enjoyed it, but then, I like things spicy."

There was a pause as the words hung in the air, and he realized what he said. His cheeks flushed.

"Err, I mean, my food," he corrected. "I like my food spicy."

He raised his menu up to obscure his face. IDIOT.

Tess giggled at Hunter's words. "You're surprisingly accurate with that description. John could probably make a killing as a mentalist." She paused for a moment, as if imagining it. "But then, I've met a lot of mentalists in my time, and they tend to be more self-absorbed than he is. It seems to be a required quirk for the job."

"I am glad to hear that the job won't suffer as a result of their issues though." She turned her attention back to the menu, seemingly unaware of or simply unwilling to call Hunter out on his embarrassing comment.

A few moments later, when the waiter arrived, she did order the salad though.

"So, aside from the fact that you worked for the government, what do you do in your free time?" Tess asked, taking a sip from the glass of water the waiter had provided. "Listen to jazz music?"

A change of subject. That was welcome.

"Designing computer programs and tinkering with electronics hardware has always been a hobby of mine," Hunter said. "But I do enjoy music and concerts. And... Well, I do like to dance, actually."

It was a bit embarrassing to admit. There was something about dancing that really made you feel exposed. But once you get past that initial barrier - like jumping into a cold pool - you became surprisingly free and light.

"What about you?" he asked. "If you're dealing with a lot of people like John, I assume you need some outlet to relieve your sanity."

"Oh?" Tess raised an eyebrow at Hunter as she took another sip of water. "You didn't strike me as the dancing type." She responded, giving him a questioning look. "I guess that explains the jazz though."

"Let me guess. You're a swinger?" Tess asked, trying her best to keep a straight face. After a few seconds, she couldn't hold down the giggle any longer though.

Her expression changed slightly when Hunter directed the conversation back to her, but it was difficult to tell exactly what had lurked behind her eyes for a split second before she masked it. "I don't normally find it difficult to work with people like John. He himself seems to be a bit different though." She paused, seeming to consider her words.

"People like you are actually the most difficult for me to work with." Tess finally said, giving Hunter an apologetic look. "I'm so used to being around people with an agenda that I don't quite know how to handle myself around people who don't. And although you may not like me saying it, I think you and John are similar in that sense. Neither of you is playing some secret game that I have to learn the rules of."

"Or at least, I hope you're not..." Her voice trailed off as she muttered the final comment.

Hunter wasn't quite sure how to take Tess' assessment. Truthfully, he wouldn't have pegged himself as the dancing type either, so maybe that could be forgiven. At the mention of "swinger," however, his face colored. Fortunately, he was spared from having to answer as Tess took the line of conversation from his question.

It wasn't really surprising to find that she didn't have problems working with people like John. In fact, she seemed hardwired to handle them. What was surprising was that she seemed to think people like him were the hardest to handle.

"I don't play games," he said with a shrug. "What you see is what you get with me."

He looked across the restaurant at the various people eating and chatting, wondering how many of them were putting on airs, trying to be something they weren't, hiding agendas behind innocent facades.

"Seems like a lot of wasted energy," Hunter mused. "I'd rather put my energy toward creating something outside myself."

"Ah, but I believe we all play games." Tess responded as the waiter arrived with their food. "Even if we're not all trying to win them."

She delicately picked up her fork and knife before giving the blade a flourish, which made it spin across the back of her hand, ending with it in a different grip. "I am curious what you mean by that statement though." Tess commented as she methodically cut the chicken in her salad. Her gaze was on the table, but for a moment, some unknown emotion flashed across her features. It was gone as quickly as it appeared though.

"What exactly is 'something outside yourself' supposed to mean?" Tess asked, flourishing the knife again as she placed it back on the table and began to toss the salad with her fork. With her other hand, she dipped a finger into the dressing for the salad and placed it between her lips, which instantly tingled from the heat. Licking away the remainder of the dressing, she poured a healthy dose of it onto the salad before forking a bite into her mouth.

Hunter wasn't sure how to respond to her words, but it didn't seem like she was expecting an answer anyway.

The food arrived, and Tess took to preparing her food with theatrical flourish. The finger licking was a bit unexpected, and Hunter quickly diverted his attention to his own plate.

"What exactly is 'something outside yourself' supposed to mean?"

Hunter looked up from his plate and frowned.

"It just seems like a lot of people are so stuck in their own heads, just trying to build themselves up" he said, shrugging. "I like being able to build something with my hands and see it."

"You're a results kind of guy then?" Tess asked with a slight grin.

Before he had time to answer, her phone rang though, and after glancing at the screen, Tess gave him an apologetic look. "I have to take this."

She swiped her finger across the screen and put the phone up to her ear, leaning back in her seat. "Hey, sweetheart." Her eyes lit up in a different way when she spoke, as if her normal facade was unable to hide her true self during this conversation.

"I'm having dinner with a co-worker." She giggled at whatever the response was.

"No, I don't need rescued." Tess glanced at Hunter and dramatically rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'll be home on time, but right now, my food is getting cold. I'll see you in an hour."

She listened for a moment before offering a final, "Goodbye, sweetheart." Then, she pocketed her phone and resumed eating.

"Sorry about that." Tess said before taking a bite of her salad. "Where were we?"

Tess' phone interrupted what was otherwise turning out to be an engaging conversation. Hunter sat back and picked at his food, trying not to appear too obvious in overhearing her call.

It was hard to miss though. Tess wasn't exactly being discreet, and it was obvious that she had a very personal relationship with this person from the way she spoke and held herself - if the "sweetheart" wasn't obvious enough. It wasn't too hard to assume that it was a boyfriend or lover.

He probably should have guessed that. It didn't really upset him - he hadn't seriously considered this a date or anything - but it did make him sober up a bit. This was just getting food with a colleague, one who he barely knew and might not encounter again.

Tess rolled her eyes at Hunter, and he managed a smile. When she finally hung up, Hunter set his fork down and looked up.

"No problem," he said. Tess made an attempt to get back into the conversation, but the moment had kind of passed. He instead steered the topics into more neutral territory, like favorite cities or hobbies or books. By the time the bill came, Hunter was feeling exhausted from conversation. He wasn't used to talking this much.

"And they say men only use 7,000 words a day," he said, smiling as the bill was set down and the waiter left. As he stared at the little black cover, he wondered how he should handle this. Would offering to pay make it seem like he thought this was a date? Would splitting make him look stingy?

"Uh..." he murmured eloquently, hand wavering toward the bill. "I don't mind paying, if you don't?"

It seemed the safest way to go.

It wasn't hard to sense the shift in conversation over the course of dinner, and it was equally easy to figure out what had probably caused it. Tess almost felt bad about it, but unlike Hunter, she enjoyed playing the game. It kept her sharp, and it kept her safe. As long as she was playing the game, she didn't have to let anyone else into her reality. Not that it mattered, tomorrow morning, when John gave his report, Hunter would know everything anyway. It really was too bad that the mood had been ruined though. She had been enjoying conversation with Hunter.

"Are you referring to words in total?" Tess asked as she reached for her purse. "Or unique words? Because in the case of the later, I sometimes think most men are stunted."

She smiled and placed a couple bills on the table. "Don't worry about it. You showed me a new place to eat. So, dinner's on me tonight."

"Unfortunately," Tess rose from her seat with a sad smile. "I must be going. It's getting late, and I get up early. So, I also tend to turn in early as well."

"Thank you for a lovely evening."

[OOC: I'll end the night here. If you wanna get in one more post for Hunter, you're welcome to do so.]

Hunter raised his eyebrows at Tess' retort about words.

"You know, I think that's rather sexist of you," he said, unable to hide a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I might be just a little offended."

Of course, having just said that, he couldn't really protest her offer to pay for the meal on account of her being a woman. So he shrugged, thanked her, and stood up from the table.

"Sorry if I kept you," he said. "I had a nice time too, though."

He was about to say that maybe they could do it again, but stopped himself. If she had a "sweetheart," that wasn't a good idea.

"Night," he offered, smiling. He watched as she headed down into the subway - okay, maybe he was a bit old-fashioned that way - before turning and walking back. It was even chillier now, but he didn't mind.

"You look like death warmed over." Tess commented as she sat down on the couch beside John.

He grunted in response and took another big sip of coffee.

"Long night? Rough hangover?" She asked, a huge smile splitting her face.

John's eyes slowly traveled the distance to hers, then moved back to the empty space in front of him. "Do you always have to be talking?"

"Are you implying I don't know how to shut up?" Tess responded, looking offended.

"I shouldn't have to answer that for you to figure it out." John grumbled, taking another sip of coffee.

"You don't." She leaned back into the sofa, still smiling. "But sometimes, you just have to spell it out for a woman." Tess gestured towards Sofie, who was sitting at a desk several feet away.

The look John gave her this time was anything but unclear. His glare could only communicate that she needed to drop her current train of thought. Now.

Movement over her shoulder caught his eye, and as Hunter entered the warehouse, John got up and swiftly made his way across the room. "Hunter. Buddy..." He slung an arm over Hunter's shoulder, like they were long-lost brothers.

"You and Tess got to know each other last night, right?" John whispered. "Do you think you can keep her busy today? She's being kind of... Nosy."

Hunter had only been inside the warehouse for less than five seconds before an arm was over his shoulder and John giving him his usual, sycophantic talk.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said. he had n idea what he was walking into it, but it was probably better to just roll with it. He shrugged off John's arm and approached Tess.

"So, what's up with John today?" he asked, taking his bag off and setting it down on his work station.

-------------------------

Sofie was puzzling over her notes, attempting to decide how best to approach this job. The others seemed to be taking this very nonchalantly. Even if their client was in the know, it was no reason to be acting less professionally.

Sofie stood up and approached the others. Hunter and Tess were now talking, and John seemed to be trying to avoid them.

"I hate to interrupt," she said, frowning. "But I am the only one who actually wants to get some work done here?"

Cause the sooner she finished this job, the sooner she could get away from John. God, why did she even take this job in the first place? She just had to prove that it wouldn't bother her, even if it very much did.

"Judging from the bloodshot eyes, and the way he's trying his best not to move his head too much, I suspect he's nursing a pretty bad hangover." Tess responded, giving Hunter a smile. "Is it possible that our Forger's presence might have driven him to drinking?"

"More likely, it's having to work for you." John scoffed, polishing off the remainder of his coffee. "I gave a speech at the local university last night, and got roped into attending the after-party."

Taking a deep breath, he flipped on the projector sitting on the desk, pointing it at the warehouse wall. "Now that we're all here, I'll lay out the Mark." He glanced at Tess, who paled slightly, the only chink in her armor, before nodding for him to proceed.

Focusing his attention on the rest of the room, John pushed a button, and a picture of Tess appeared on the projector. "Contessa, 'Tess', DeCosta. Twenty six years old, professional illusionist. She's mysterious, driven, and highly intelligent."

"There's very little information on her corporate career, beyond the fact that she started as a street performer several years ago. She does have more than a few big name corporations on her client list though." John flipped to the next slide, displaying the names over over thirty corporations, five of which were circled in red and easily recognizable.

"She has an Italian-American dual citizenship, and attended grade school here in the states. After that, she mysteriously vanishes from the records, but I do know she has a degree in psychology from a very prestigious university in England, in addition to a degree in film from the University of California."

"Given her background, this woman is not to be underestimated. She's a master of showing people only what she wants them to see, while at the same time, reading them as easily as you or I might read a children's book."

"Despite her corporate connections, any significant other she might have is invisible, which leads me to believe she either doesn't have one or they're simply much more low-profile than the people she works with."

John paused for a moment, directing his attention to Tess, who gave him a knowing smile. Of course, he would get to this part. This is why Trevor kept him around. The fact that he'd discovered the psychology degree had been shocking, but she'd known he would find out the rest.

"The only two relationships I can confirm are her mother, Miranda DeCosta, and her five year old son, Travis. Her mother owns the flat right next door to Tess', which implies the two have a very close relationship. Considering her status are 'retired', I also suspect that she spends a great deal of time taking care of Travis while Tess is out on business trips."

"There's no record of Travis' father anywhere I can find. His birth certificate even states 'information withheld'. As for Tess' father, I understand that he passed away several years ago."

"So, if we need an 'in', Travis and Miranda are probably our best and only options."

It was beyond strange to have Tess' life story laid out before them this way while she was sitting in the room. It felt awkward, invasive, and Hunter wasn't quite able to look at her as John spoke.

The information was insightful, but nothing particularly shocking. It wasn't until the mention of her son that Hunter gave a start.

Wait, son? Son... sweetheart. Was that who Tess had been talking to the night before?

It seemed the father wasn't in the picture, but the fact that his identity was withheld was rather suspicious. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that though. John had revealed that Tess' mother and son were their best in.

"So..." he said, trying to keep track of the roles they had vs the ones Tess thought they had, "Sofie will forge either the Mark's mother or son?"

Sofie, who been listening silently up to this point, crossed her legs and sighed.

"That depends. Just because they're close to her, it doesn't mean they'd know anything worth stealing. The Mark might make a point to keep business and sensitive information separate from her family."

She turned her attention to John and frowned.

"Besides, I'm not entirely clear on what exactly we're trying to extract in the first place," she added. "It's hard to tailor the dream layers or the forges without knowing the goal."

"The target of the extraction," Tess spoke up from her seat, "is the password to the Mark's online data dropbox."

"Unfortunately, I don't think either her mother or son would have access to that information, but it is possible that they could still potentially be used to get the information from her." Wow, it felt weird to talk about herself in the third person like that.

"Agreed." John responded. "I think the only person with the information we seek is the Mark herself."

Tess nodded. "That seems like a logical assumption. So, we should focus on how to get the information from her directly."

"That means," she continued, "we either have to create a situation in which she would willingly hand over the information, or force her subconscious to hide it somewhere in the dreamspace."

John barked out a laugh at that, and Tess shot him a questioning look.

"Sorry." He said with a wry smile. "But considering the Mark's disposition, I find it hard to believe that she'd actually even subconsciously store the information where we expect her to."

"That's an interesting conclusion." Tess leaned back in her seat, looking thoughtful. "Do you have any proof of that theory?"

"Not without testing it, no." John responded. "Just call it a hunch."

"Unfortunately," Sofie quipped from her chair, giving John a flat look, "we can't plan around your hunches."

Hunter raised his eyebrows, shooting Tess a look for a moment before quickly resuming an innocent expression.

"If there's only two confirmed relationships - her mother and son - then I don't think we can plan on a scenario where the Mark would willingly hand over the information," Hunter said. "So I think we'll have to plan on forcing the subconscious to hide it here we can find it."

Sofie shifted in her chair, looking thoughtful.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked. Hunter shrugged.

"We can engineer a scenario where the Mark thinks the information is at risk - maybe stage some kind of cyber attack on the data dropbox and force her to hide the password," he suggested.

"I didn't say we needed to plan around it." John responded, not looking in Sofie's direction. "Simply keep in mind that the Mark's subconscious may act in unexpected ways."

Tess sniggered to herself. "I'm not entirely sure how to take that, John."

"Professionally, of course." He responded, again not looking towards the person he was speaking to.

"Noted." Tess leaned back in her seat. "It's possible that we could expose the information by threatening an attack on it, but wouldn't that also prompt the Mark to simply change the password?"