; what's new, buenos aires? {open}

[vickers]

ooc:// hurr hurr evita lyrics -shot-


Meredith Vickers had been to Buenos Aires once or twice in her life - strictly on business trips, of course. The city wasn't called 'the Paris of South America' for nothing - its gorgeous architecture and vibrant culture were two things that hadn't changed. But everything else...everything else definitely had. The technology. The transportation. Even the people themselves, in many ways. It didn't surprise her much at this point; this was nearly a century before her time, after all. 2012 - Vickers could remember the icy shock that had seeped into her the first time she'd come across a newspaper after being somehow transported back to Earth. Not only had she traveled millions of lightyears across the galaxy, she'd traveled almost a hundred years backwards in time. Things like that...well, they didn't just happen. It was one of the many things she was determined to find answers for...though at the moment, it was not at the top of her list.

That honor went to what had happened with the Prometheus. Had anyone - anyone - else survived? Where were the Engineers? Had they been stopped? Why were they so brutally hostile towards their own creations in the first place? And most importantly, how was she meant to find answers to something that technically hadn't even happened yet?

Time was a...tricky thing to mess with. Vickers really wasn't sure whether this was even the same dimension she knew - but she did know that Weyland existed here. Perhaps it had been a...risky move on her part, taking it over while it was still finding its footing, but the way she saw it? It really couldn't do any worse under her leadership than it had under Peter's. In fact, Weyland could really do with a leader who knew when to keep her nose out of things far, far too big for them. Didn't mean she was going to leave the Engineer thing alone entirely. No, that would have been foolish. There were too many mysteries left unsolved, too many potential answers out there to be uncovered. She would just need to be much more careful and much less direct about uncovering them.

It was why she'd come to Argentina, actually. Tomorrow morning she'd embark with her hired crew to direct an expedition into the Andes mountains, to the coordinates of ancient Incan ruins. If her calculations were correct, the ancient star maps pointing to Engineers' home - the same ones that Dr. Shaw and Dr. Holloway had found here and in many other ancient civilizations - should have been completely undisturbed at this point in time. And Vickers wanted to ensure that Weyland had possession of those carvings before anyone else could stumble upon them - wanted to ensure that no one else could go gallivanting off across the universe in search of something they had no way of understanding. No, the star maps would only be safe in her possession. Even if she had to travel around the world to collect each and every one of them.

Taking a sip of her drink, she turned in her seat at the outside bar in Buenos Aires and narrowed her eyes at the starry sky above. They were out there, somewhere. Perhaps even now creating life that, in a few thousand years, they intended to destroy as well.

They wouldn't be coming near Earth, at any rate. Not if she could help it.

[luci]

Humans were less than a trivial matter to Lucifer. Supposedly God's finest creations... and yet they didn't have the ability to keep their planet running for more than a thousand or so years. They'd already ravaged their oceans and wiped out many of the other creatures they lived with. All of that and God had banished him to Hell for not loving them. It was such a shame that his father couldn't see what his favored creations would become in the future of his world. It was something of a sickening sight for Lucifer to see the creations God had claimed to be better than angels destroying one of God's more marvelous creations - the Earth itself.

So it was clear Lucifer didn't want any involvement with the humans. But, eventually causing the apocalypse did require Lucifer to see just what this world was truly capable of. Being in Hell for so long had made the Earth an unfamiliar place for Lucifer - not that he'd been there so often before he was banished. It always had been the humans' home, which made it somewhere Lucifer wanted to strictly avoid. Their architecture was basic, primitive even. Even after so many years the species was still lurching along like a child first learning to walk. If God could create beings as perfect as angels, why had he made such a mistake with the human race? It was a question Lucifer believed he would never discover the answer to.

The area known as Buenos Aires was rich in human culture. At least, it was as far as Lucifer could see when he appeared in an alleyway. The archangel stepped out into the streets, watching performers play music as humans walked by. The only way Lucifer allowed himself to not abandon this area was the fact that there was someone he wanted to look into there. Something strange had happened recently - something of a flux in time. Lucifer had sensed them all over the Earth, but this was the most recent. She had been pulled from the future, a future where Lucifer apparently hadn't destroyed the entire human race yet. The reason Lucifer had chosen this one was very simple - she was human and had no apparent abilities besides that which were normal for a trained human to have.

Lucifer spotted her sitting at a bar outside of a nearby airport. With a sound that resembled rustling wings, Lucifer appeared in the seat next to her. "Hello." Lucifer said, summoning a glass in his hand. Human drink was meaningless to the archangel, though it did allow him to keep something of an appearance. Most humans, at least the ones who didn't view him as a red horned creature, saw him as a refined evil; an image he preferred to the other one.

[vickers]

Since her return, Vickers had become somewhat hypersensitive to surroundings. Some might have used the word jumpy, but she bristled at its paranoid, weak connotations. Either way, she was usually incredibly quick to pick up on the fact that someone was approaching her - so when the only warning she got was a slight rustling before a man suddenly appeared in the seat next to her, she was of course more than a little...surprised. Not to mention immediately alarmed. Her heart rate quickened, every muscle in her body tensing - but she managed to keep her facial expression sharp and cold as she turned towards him quickly.

But a man appearing out of thin air, especially one looking as normal as this one did, wasn't exactly what you'd call a common occurrence. Not wanting to immediately jump to conclusions just because she hadn't heard him approach, Vickers hesitated for a moment...until she watched the man summon a drink into his hand. Well, that just about sealed the deal if nothing else did. He wasn't human - and her icy expression became almost accusatory as he greeted her, as if not being human was some sort of crime. As far as Vickers was concerned, though, it might as well have been. You could barely trust people as it was, but at least you could understand their motivations. With anything else, you were sort of...left in the dark. Anything else was unpredictable. And Vickers had learned that this could be very, very dangerous.

So what was he, then? An apparition of some sort? ..Perhaps she was just...going crazy. On top of everything else, Vickers wouldn't have found it that surprising to be experiencing hallucinations at this point. If he wasn't a hallucination, though, his appearing here next to her could not be a coincidence. Not after...everything. A possibility she really didn't want to consider slipped into her mind then: what if he wasn't even from this planet? ...That was going a little too far without having proof, though, and she really didn't like to consider the idea of aliens who could disguise themselves as humans anyway. Of not being able to trust anyone - to an even lesser extent than she already did.

There was one way to get her answers quickly, she knew - assuming this man, or...whatever he was planned on being honest with her. That wasn't something she could take for granted either. But silence certainly wasn't going to get her anywhere, and though a small part of her just wanted to turn and get away before trouble could even begin...the stubborn part of her that wanted to prove herself formidable won out. "What are you?" she asked sharply at last, not bothering to return the greeting. It was far better, in her experience, to dispel any hint of vulnerability than to play nice. At least initially. Giving off the whole 'complete bitch' vibe wasn't something Vickers had a problem with doing until she was certain that there was no threat present. There was always time for apologies later.

[luci]

What was he? Lucifer looked human enough, at least besides the strange red marks on his head that had come from his vessel being unable to hold his power. Other than that, he seemed human enough and from what he'd seen so far teleporting was not something reserved for only supernatural creatures, as it seemed to have been before he was cast into Hell. So many things had changed since then, it seemed. Most of them not for the better. Since humans were gaining powers, Lucifer was not quite sure what to do. Very few, if any at all, had powers that rivaled his own - that still seemed to be reserved for his archangel brethren, thankfully. It would be a shame if humans somehow developed their own ways of defeating beings that far exceeded them in power. Lucifer doubted it would ever happen.

There was no need in Lucifer to disguise himself as a human. They were weak creatures, and to call himself one would be to shame God's greatest creations - the archangels. So, Lucifer decided to simply tell the truth. It was a strange thing that humans called him the prince of lies so often. He hardly ever lied. "An archangel." He replied simply, as if this fact were something casual. Of course, it was casual for Lucifer. If anything, humans were the abnormalities to him, despite them making up the general population of Earth. Not that Earth was anything compared to Heaven, or even Purgatory. It was better than Hell, but perhaps only by a bit. The presence of humans make anything terrible, in Lucifer's eyes. Even demons were considered better than humans.

{Kinda short, but :B}

[innerbeauty]

((I hope no one minds if little miss Belle crashes this party ^^))

Belle stepped out of the baggage claim of the airport of Buenos Aires with a disgruntled huff. Y'know, maybe magic wasn't all that dangerous? It certainly seemed like a better option than these stupid... customs. Flying in an airplane made her stomach queasy, airline security almost turned her into another Evil Queen, and she had nearly lost her luggage in the bottomless pit known as Baggage Claim. Rumpelstiltskin often said (in a very chipper manner) that all magic came with a price. Well, Belle figured she'd rather pay whatever price she had to as long as she didn't have to deal with that again. The brunette shook her head sharply to dismiss those thoughts. They weren't true, after all; she could never use magic so whimsically after finally hearing the full story of how Rumpelstiltskin had lost his son.

Plus, she didn't exactly have a choice but to use airline travel. Rumpelstiltskin didn't exactly know she was here, at least as far as she knew, and she hoped it would remain that way. After the return of magic, Rumpelstiltskin had told her more of his son and that, now, he would be able to find him. He'd told her of a certain... expedition, he'd called it, that really seemed to pique his interest. Belle had offered to go in search of Baelfire, for Rumpelstiltskin's sake, but he had denied her. So, she just had to do things, herself. She'd written down the city and name he had mumbled to himself, found someone who could help her with a plane ticket, and arrived here, all on her own. She would help Rumpelstiltskin within all that was in her power to do and she wanted him to have his son again.

She wanted to go as unnoticed as possible; the better to avoid Rumpelstiltskin finding her, she'd hoped. And so, she'd dressed in a simple, faded blue shirt and worn, dark blue jeans. She wore her hair down to help hide her facial features and wore the grungy jacket she'd found after her escape from Storybrooke Hospital. The wheeled suitcase she was dragging after her she had "borrowed" from Rumpelstiltskin. She didn't know exactly what she'll be needing, so she had just packed the necessities. Somehow, she had managed to swipe one of Rumpelstiltskin's credit cards, under his alias of Mr. Gold, just in case of emergencies. She loved Rumpelstiltskin with all her heart and that was all the reason she needed to do whatever she could to save him; and saving him meant doing her best to find his son.

Exiting the airport, Belle surveyed the area. It seemed like quite a lovely place; she wouldn't mind coming here again to explore a bit. Having spent her entire time in this world in a psychiatric ward had simply made her ever more eager to explore. She smiled brightly at the scenery, thinking of returning here on better terms than why she was here now. She spotted someone - two people - who looked like they may be able to help her find the person she was looking for. They were seated at what looked to be some sort of pub or another, which set Belle off slightly. She scowled inwardly, thinking of her former fiancé. Gaston had often been fond of alcoholic beverages and the like and every time he drank, he just got more intolerable. There had been more than one occasion when Belle would've liked nothing more than to just have slapped some sense back into him.

Striding up to the duo, she spoke hesitantly, fearing she was interrupting some important discussion. "E-excuse me...? Could one of you tell me where I might find..." Belle paused for a moment, not able to remember the name she'd written down. Pulling out the slip of paper, she peered at both of the names before returning her attention to the man and woman before her. "A Meredith Vickers? ...I am in Buenos Aires, Argentina...?" For a moment, Belle's face held nothing but crippling doubt, wondering if she may have arrived in the wrong place. Oh, she did so hope that she could find this Vickers-person; she might provide a lead as to Baelfire's location.

[vickers]

There was nothing in the man's calm, nonchalant expression that suggested he was joking - even a little. And yet...he'd just claimed himself to be an archangel. So he was either joking to avoid the question, lying to her, or plain crazy. Whichever it was, she really didn't have the patience to endure this right now - these days, when someone avoided giving her answers (or seemed to be, anyway), Vickers' hackles tended to raise pretty quickly. But through her bristling doubt of the man sitting next to her, she managed to remain calm. Managed to take a steadying sip of her drink, hoping that the alcohol might at least serve to relax her to the point where she wasn't going to immediately freak out about this, and placed the glass carefully back down on the bar before turning her attention to him once again.

"That's impossible." she told him flatly, folding her hands in her lap and leaning forward slightly as if she were gently counseling a particularly unstable individual. It was ironic, really, that she was getting hit with this religious crap now of all times. Maybe that was the point? If this man somehow knew what she was here to do...introducing himself as an 'angel', of all things, was a pretty blatant way to make fun of her. Despite the fact that the very thought kinda made her want to punch something everyone back away slowly, she forced herself to smile coolly instead of glaring and added, "Nice try, though."

Thoroughly irked now, she had every intention of proceeding to tell this man - on no uncertain terms - to tell her the truth before she decided to walk away. As she opened her mouth to speak, however, movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She immediately shifted her gaze to whoever it was who was approaching them, her expression sharp and wary. The young woman who was nervously making her way up to them...didn't strike her as particularly threatening, however. In fact, she looked more than a little lost. Vickers watched her stiffly, head quirked slightly to one side as she waited to hear whatever it was the second stranger wanted. And, granted - she couldn't help but allow a flicker of surprise to cross her features at the girl's next words.

The brunette was looking for her? ...Why? Her green eyes narrowed a fraction, partly suspicious but mostly curious - although she couldn't help but cast a brief accusatory glance towards the man sitting beside her, wondering whether or not he was in on this. "I'm Meredith Vickers. And yes, this is Buenos Aires." she replied cautiously after a moment, wondering why the girl didn't seem to know where she was. ..Well, she had luggage with her. It was probably safe to assume she'd just arrived. "..What can I do for you?" she added after a moment, regaining her professionalism - though still distinctly aware of the fact that she still had no idea who or what the man sitting beside her was (derp he just told you, vickers) or what he might decide to do to them at any moment.

[luci]

Humans and their disbelief. It was a disappointment... Well, it was a disappointment for God {or so Lucifer thought}, Lucifer had honestly expected the humans to betray their father some day. This only proved that humans were imperfect in every way. They would even go so far as to preach about their disbelief. It was a disgusting display and, if it were even possible, it made Lucifer despise the humans more. If it hadn't been justified not saying he loved the humans more than God in His eyes, surely it was justified now. They'd not only betrayed Him, but many of them slandered His name without a second thought.

"I didn't expect you to believe me." Lucifer replied, placing the wine glass on the bar next to them. Lucifer not only didn't expect her to believe him, he fully expected her to not believe him. He obviously didn't have any idea what had happened to her before she'd arrived in this time period. But, who would, in this world, believe someone if they approached them and outright said they were an angel? It was a sort of world where nobody believed in the things they were told about anymore. Soon, nobody would be telling anyone about them and the truth would just fade into obscurity.

Well, unless Lucifer managed to destroy every human.

Before Lucifer could speak again, a girl approached and asked for Vickers, who responded and started up a conversation. Lucifer took the wine glass in hand and drank from it, staring the new woman down. He didn't like being interrupted, though he could endure for a short while...

[innerbeauty]

Belle shifted from foot to foot nervously, glancing between Vickers and Lucifer. "I-I'm sorry, I hope I'm not... interrupting anything?" She felt quite unsettled by that stare she was getting from the man sitting just beside Vickers; it sent shivers down her spine. She didn't back down, though. She felt awful at the possibility of interrupting something important, but she was on a mission. Rumpelstiltskin deserved to have a happy ending just as much as everyone else and Belle would do everything in her power to help him achieve it. If it meant facing down against a stranger that sent her stomach twisting, so be it. However, she suspected there was more to this man than what he was letting on. With people like Regina, one learned not to take appearances lightly.

At the woman's confirmation, on both accounts, Belle returned her attention to her. "You are?" She asked hopefully. With a sigh of relief, she let some of the tension seep from her body. "I'm so glad I found you!" Belle, in her newly born eagerness, stepped closer to the seated pair. "Y-you see, I heard about your expedition and..." She paused hesitantly, wondering. Would this woman even allow her to join her? Being a Fairytale character, she didn't exactly have any official credentials; not too mention the fact that Regina had kept her locked in the psychiatric ward and, therefore, had kept her from even establishing roots in this world. All she had were clothes, a couple books (because everyone needs a good story), and a credit card she'd "borrowed" from her lover. Nevertheless, she had to try! "A-and I was looking to... join you?" Hastily, she added, "You won't need to pay me for any necessities, or anything! Y'see, I'm... searching for someone. And I have a hunch I may find them with you."

Belle looked to Meredith Vickers, a hopeful axe deep in her blue eyes. She was painfully aware of the tight grip she held on the handle of her solitary suitcase, fear of being turned away welling up. This could be her one and only chance to prove herself capable of helping Rumpelstiltskin. After all, it was a hard feat to imagine how worried he might be when he found out she was gone. Images of him simply appearing in the middle of the road in a storm of rage floated through her mind. That was also one of the reasons she had to keep moving and an expedition would help her do just that. If she kept moving, it would be harder for him to locate her and that should give her enough time to find out if this was a viable lead to Baelfire or not; then, and only then, could she return to Storybrooke.

And so, she waited in anticipation of Vickers' response.

[vickers]

This so-called 'angel' didn't expect her to believe him? Just what was that all about? That wasn't the follow-up statement she would have expected had he been attempting to make fun of her, and now she had to pause and stare at him calculatingly. What exactly was this stranger up to? What other motive could he possibly have for weaving this tale - and why now? Vickers frowned a little more deeply, clearly displeased by this little development...and when the young brunette woman who'd just approached them apprehensively asked whether she'd interrupted anything, Vickers hesitated a moment before answering. "I'm...not sure what it is you've walked in on, actually..." was her only response, giving the man beside her one last calculating look before trying to refocus her attention on the woman who seemingly required something of her.

Really, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting this stranger to ask her - but it certainly hadn't been this. Stoic as she usually was, she couldn't help but allow her eyes to widen slightly in shock at the brunette's words. This woman...wanted to join her on her expedition. Not in search of evidence that aliens had created humanity, oh no (she'd made sure Weyland had kept most of the details on that under wraps anyway), but because she was hoping to find...someone who she seemed to have lost. Well, she certainly had to be quite desperate to find them if she'd traveled all the way here. Truth be told, Vickers really wasn't sure what to make of all this - the last thing she needed were tag-alongs who might compromise the confidentiality of the mission, but...this woman didn't exactly strike her as the duplicitous type. In fact her wide-eyed optimism and enthusiasm reminded Vickers very much of Dr. Shaw...and she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

And then there was the supposed angel, still listening in on this conversation, to consider. Something about him made her bristle distrustfully, and she knew she would need to be careful what she said around him. But she remained calm as she spoke next, her tone still laced with its steady authoritative professionalism. "I don't allow just anyone on these sorts of expeditions, you know." It was the truth - Weyland employees or qualified experts whose skills would prove useful had been all she'd recruited thus far. Apart from the fact that she had no way of knowing whether she could trust this woman, Vickers wasn't sure if she was aware of just what it was she was getting herself into. So without voicing any decisive agreement or denial to the request just yet, she continued on explaining.

"They're not without risk - and I have to wonder, just who is it you're looking for that you're so convinced you'll find them on this trip, of all things." Whoever it was, they had to be very lost to end up in the Argentine mountains...so how exactly had this woman lost them? There was something very odd about all of this, and she certainly wasn't a believer in fate - but it still struck her as...strange that she had run into these two peculiar individuals now.

[luci]

Lucifer did not like being interrupted. But, what had he expected from humans? Some show of etiquette? He'd clearly overestimated what they were capable of. It was like interacting with hairless apes. Lucifer waited for a moment while the two spoke, occasionally drinking from the wine he'd summoned up. It allowed him to keep his image up, even if that did force him to play into the stereotypes the humans had forced on him. Lucifer couldn't help but wonder why humans had the need to force everything into their understanding. They had immediately turned him into some ultimate evil when they'd first heard about him and when they heard of his brothers they were immediately the ultimate good. Yet he was the ultimate evil for loving his father more than his flawed creations.

And now he had to wait for those very same flawed creations to finish their conversation. It truly was like humans to disregard things that mattered and start talking about their personal lives. Yet he was known as the prideful one. Why was it that God created humans so that they had the urge to inflict their own flaws on other beings and claim that it was their fault that the flaws existed? Lucifer certainly did not force humans into being prideful. In fact, he couldn't care less about how humans behaved. He was going to kill them all eventually. If he needed a human to do something a certain way he was certainly good enough at manipulating their actions to get them to do whatever he wanted. But what was the use when he could get one of his demons to do it for him? Even demons were better than humans... Though Lucifer had still resolved to destroy most of them in the end.

"Excuse me." Lucifer said, placing his wine glass down on the bar. He'd had quite enough of their petty conversation. It was time he got down to doing what he came here to do. They could continue their business when he was done. "I think you can discuss this when we're finished talking" Lucifer usually behaved politely, even when dealing with humans. But he'd truly had quite enough of listening to their affairs - affairs that wouldn't even matter after the Apocalypse.

[innerbeauty]

((W00!!! Looky-looky! I finally posted!! ^^))

Upon hearing Vickers' disheartening words, the young woman before her deflated a bit. Belle had expected to find difficulty in joining Meredith's expedition, but she hadn't predicted having to find a viable attribute valuable enough to convince the woman of her ability. What could Belle have to give this Vickers woman that would tip the balance in her favor? Well, she had money (plenty of that from Gold's credit card), but she suspected that wouldn't get her very far. She had an incredibly powerful and magical lover who could sometimes be a tad overprotective of the ones he loved... But, again, that was a pretty useless resource with him so far away; besides the fact that she'd rather avoid him knowing she was here. In a stroke of brilliance, Belle finally found something that might convince Vickers that she needed the former-fairytale character.

"I-I... have extensive knowledge of myths and fairy tales!" The former was partially true, she had indeed read up on some myths and legends, but the latter was almost entirely true. She wasn't completely sure if the crew Meredith had put together didn't already have an expert in the field of mythology, but she had to take a chance; it was the only way she even had a possibility of finding Mr. Gold's son. Unfortunately, the conversation drifted to the very topic Belle had hoped Vickers would overlook. Upon the woman's inquiry, a sad expression crossed Belle's face. "Well, you see, someone I know lost someone very dear to him..." Quick as a whip, that dreary look turned into a face of determination overcame Belle's features. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring him back! And I have reason to believe I'll find him on your expedition, Ms. Vickers." Belle worried and hoped that her would-be employer didn't dig further into the matter, she doubted she could come up with a reasonable excuse for Rumpelstiltskin magically finding a lead for her to follow, but she didn't let any doubt show through.

Looking to the man next to Vickers as he spoke, Belle quickly realized her mistake. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know I was interrupting... something." Glancing hesitantly towards the man, she still felt this man was off, somehow. "I-I'll leave you to make your decision. I have a call to make, myself." With a quick bow of her head to Meredith, Belle spun on her heel and walked away as fast as she dared, her luggage clattering precariously behind her. With relative speed, Belle found a local phone booth and stepped inside, self-conciously tugging her brown overcoat tighter around her shoulders. The girl picked up the phone from its holder and put it to her ear, but she didn't make any other move. Who, exactly, was she planning on calling? She didn't dare call Mr. Gold's shop. She didn't have too many friends in Storybrooke, even before they had all arrived in this world. Being prohibited from leaving Rumpelstiltskin's castle had cut her off from the world. Putting the phone back, Belle pat herself down, as if checking for change. She didn't expect to find any, all she'd taken with her for money was Gold's credit card, but she was putting on a show so anyone watching her didn't get suspicious. She hated lying, absolutely despised it; but she had to, for fear of being discovered.

[vickers]

Meredith’s eyebrows rose a little higher when Belle mentioned her knowledge of mythology and fairytales - it was almost a little too ideal, actually, to run into someone who could actually be of use and was willing to go along on the expedition (albeit for their own reasons) for free. Dr. Shaw, among other things, had been an expert in mythology - and it was for that reason that she’d been able to make sense of some of the carvings they’d found. Perhaps this woman could be of similar help, if she really was looking for someone she’d lost, and not looking to…well, exploit Weyland’s findings. Somehow, though, this woman didn’t really seem like the ‘exploitation’ type. She’d seemed earnest, sad even, when she’d spoke of the person she’d lost and how she had reason to find them somewhere along their journey. Vickers contemplated all of this quietly for a moment, eyes narrowed in thought. Perhaps it was some unwanted sentiment that was making her actually consider this - she herself was in a position where she’d been separated from people she would have rather liked to find. If this woman could be trusted, and she’d promised to be helpful…well then, why not give her the chance to find the person she’d lost, Vickers supposed.

She opened her mouth to tell the brunette as much, finally - when she was suddenly cut off by the self-named ‘archangel’ still sitting at the bar beside her. She turned to him with a look of slight incredulity, in all honesty a bit startled at his sudden, biting interruption - just what was it that he was in such a hurry to speak to her about? Her suspicions immediately rose again, and she gave him a silent frown as the woman who’d approached them apologized and hurried off to make a phone call. Vickers only shook her head a little in response, silently communicating that it wasn’t a problem as far as she was concerned, and then watching the woman walk off toward a phone booth for a moment. Once she seemed to be well out of earshot, Vickers slowly turned back to the man sitting beside her. He seemed agitated by the conversation that had just occurred, and in the back of her mind a warning bell sounded - an agitated archangel was probably not a good thing. But that was absolutely ridiculous, she reminded herself. Angels, Gods, religious higher beings…they just didn’t exist. And she’d seen proof of that herself - it wasn’t something she was going to be quick to forget.

It all came back down to whether or not he was trying to play her. And it was a question that she wanted answered quickly. "I'm not really sure what you're trying to pull, here." she said frankly, levelly meeting his gaze as she spoke. "At first I thought you were just crazy. But now I'm pretty sure you're just trying to poke fun at everything my company has accomplished with your 'angel' crap." Her voice was smooth and controlled, but it wasn't difficult to tell that she was no longer attempting to hold back her own irritation and suspicion - her tone was sharp, and her expression cold. "So whatever it is you're getting at, why don't we just cut to the chase. What exactly do you want from me?"