Lee was looking at Rupert when she asked her question, so she saw how his eyes shot to hers, only to look away again when he saw her wiping the tears. Was it really that bad that she was crying, that the collar had made her cry, that he couldn't even look at her? Or maybe, Lee thought as she watched Rupert staring at the covered window, her tears made her appear too human for him.

At least she was getting control of her tears now. The anger was still smoldering inside her, but with the collar off, Lee could actually ignore it, let it burn out on its own for the time being. But just another tissue, a couple more swipes, and the tears would be taken care of.

Lee almost dropped the tissues in her hand when she heard Rupert speak. With how he said it, even though he still wasn't looking at her, it almost sounded like he was surprised she thought he hated her. That it was simply because he was scared of her.

He didn't want her to answer that question, but Lee wasn't so sure about that herself. As far as she was concerned, she had far greater reasons to be terrified of Rupert than him of her.

"IF I wanted to," Lee said, particularly stressing the word 'if', as her eyes dropped to her lap. "It probably wouldn't be all that hard normally. That's my guess, anyway. I've never actually killed anyone before. Roughed guys up to stop them from rapping me, but that's it.

"Really, Rupert, how can you be scared of me?" Lee asked, her eyes turning upward again to look over at the older man in front of her. "Even if I wanted to, if I tried, how hard would it be for you to grab that remote and make my own attempts end up harming myself rather than you? Or for you to shoot me? Or hit that other button and have the collar end up killing me that way?

"That night," she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper as her eyes dropped back down to her lap. "I was so scared of you that I went and hid rather than even tell you to get out of my apartment."

~ "IF I wanted to, it probably wouldn't be all that hard normally. That's my guess, anyway. I've never actually killed anyone before. Roughed guys up to stop them from rapping me, but that's it."

Rupert swallowed. It wouldn't be all that hard, she said. Normally, she said. Did 'normally' mean 'when she wasn't collared'? Because as far as he could see, there was nothing stopping her now. He had to forcibly stop himself from glancing towards that remote. It was just as well it was on the desk, out of easy reach. Maybe too far out of easy reach.

He knew his thoughts were irrational. Somehow, though, he couldn't seem to shut them up.

~ "Really, Rupert, how can you be scared of me? ...Even if I wanted to, if I tried, how hard would it be for you to grab that remote and make my own attempts end up harming myself rather than you? Or for you to shoot me? Or hit that other button and have the collar end up killing me that way?"

Rupert couldn't help it: he let out a small laugh. For the first time in awhile, he turned back to look at her. "Great. Yes. Let's talk this over rationally. We can mentally picture all of the ways we could try and kill each other right here, right now, and all of the ways to counter. That's really going to help. Hell, while we're at it, why don't we just practice? I can go for the remote, and you can do your... your... leeching thing, or whatever you call it. We'll see who drops who first. Practice makes perfect, right?" Practice had certainly made perfect for his sarcasm.

Naturally, she soon had him feeling like an ass.

~ "That night, I was so scared of you that I went and hid rather than even tell you to get out of my apartment."

She also shut him up for a good fifteen seconds. His mouth worked; opened, closed, opened again. No words came out until this intelligent statement: "I thought you were angry. Not scared. Hell, I'd be angry, if some stray moron had just shoved his way into my apartment and started insulting my species." He probably could have chosen a more politically correct phrasing.

Rupert did not seem impressed by her answer to the question he had decided he had wanted to be rhetorical. He even wanted to practise how they could potentially kill each other?

Lee had been partially right, anyway. Rupert might not outright hate her, but he was so scared and worried about what he thought she could potentially do that that fear had turned into hate.

"Fine," Lee whispered, her voice resigned, leaning back against the chair as she closed her eyes. "Do it then. Even with the collar on, I've been siphoning from you since before I entered the room. Guess it's your turn to 'practise' then."

Lee kept her eyes closed as she waited. Even though Rupert had already told her, quite forcefully in fact, that she was going to get out of the camp alive that day, Lee didn't want to actually see it if he now changed his mind, took his chance.

In the silent pause that followed, Lee couldn't help but hold her breath. Was he debating it, had he pulled his gun or grabbed the remote? If it were going to happen, if possible, it'd be best for it to just be over quickly, for Lee to not actually see it coming. So even when Rupert continued what seemed like ages later, Lee still had her eyes closed.

"I was angry," Lee finally decided to tell him. "But I was too scared to do anything about it. Were there more cops coming, about to burst in and drag us to the camps? Were you planning on turning us in as soon as you left? And if you were there completely on your own, well, even that night I couldn't move faster than a bullet."

~ "Fine."

'Fine'? Fine what? Rupert scowled at the woman as she leaned back and closed her eyes. What the hell was that about?

~ "Do it then. Even with the collar on, I've been siphoning from you since before I entered the room. Guess it's your turn to 'practise' then."

He went rigid so suddenly, his chair actually rocked. Siphoning. Not leeching--she called it siphoning. Like stealing gas from someone else's fuel tank. It was the sort of mental image he just couldn't appreciate; especially not when he was the fuel tank. His eyes flicked towards the remote again. A little shock would put her in her place. Or his gun: now wouldn't that be funny. She wouldn't even get hurt from the blanks, but she sure as hell would remember how easy it was for him to pull that trigger--

Rupert closed his own eyes, and started counting to twenty. Ten wasn't going to cover this. One. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears; past it was the sound of the little ornamental clock on his desk, ticking off the seconds. His heartbeat was faster. Four. Couldn't this stupid freak recognize sarcasm when she heard it? Seven. And he sure as hell didn't appreciate her sucking off his energy, like he was just some damn convenient battery to her. Ten. Even if she couldn't help it. She couldn't help it, right? He thought he remembered that. At the least, he knew her collar had been specifically modified with that in mind--so she'd told the Registration workers that, even if it was a bold-faced lie. How could you not be able to stop yourself from turning everyone around you into an exhausted husk? Thirteen. ...Was he feeling more tired than usual? It seemed like before she'd stepped into his office, he'd been full of energy. Nervous energy, sure, but definitely energy. Was he feeling more tired? Well he sure wasn't bouncing off the office walls anymore. Maybe that was his lack of daily caffeine finally catching up with him, or maybe, maybe, it had something to do with the freak sitting over there, egging him on, telling him that she'd been attacking him since before she'd even entered the office. Trying to start something with him. Trying to--

The counting wasn't helping. Rupert opened his eyes, still glaring, to find that the woman was still mocking him, or whatever the hell that casual lean-back in her chair was supposed to mean. She wasn't even looking at him. Was she really that confident he wouldn't take her up on her offer?

Or was she just that confident that he wasn't a threat, no matter what he did? He remembered that first time he'd seen her, through the window: she had super speed. Well, ****. That explained it, then.

"You just must be getting a ******* laugh out of this." He rasped out, his anger making it hard to talk. "Right. 'Go for the remote, you stupid human'--as if I even have a chance of reaching it before you do. That's cute." He shook his head, the motion jerky and indignant. "That's real cute. You actually had me thinking I could reach it, for a second there." His gun was useless with its blanks; it didn't even enter his mind. The fact that she didn't know it was useless didn't exactly jump into his thoughts, either. He'd completely forgotten about the dart gun in its shoulder holster--it wasn't like that thing was a regular part of his arsenal. He stayed rigid in his chair, his hands white from their grips on the armrests.

Just because she soon had him feeling like an ass, didn't mean that anger was just going to quietly go its way.

~ "I was angry. But I was too scared to do anything about it. Were there more cops coming, about to burst in and drag us to the camps? Were you planning on turning us in as soon as you left? And if you were there completely on your own, well, even that night I couldn't move faster than a bullet."

A sharp laugh--almost a bark--escaped him. "Oh, that's precious. I was in street clothes. I'd just come from a movie. Do you seriously think I was hiding a gun? Where, in my sweatpants? Hell, I don't even remember if I had my cell phone on me; I sure as hell didn't have any time between getting showered with glass and knocking on your door to get in a call for backup, even if there was anyone else on the force I could trust to not drag your mutie asses over to Registration. I was unarmed, and without backup. Don't you dare talk to me about scared. ****." His arms were shaking against the chair, just the slightest bit. That was from anger, right? Not exhaustion? He couldn't seem to think it through, right now.

When Lee heard Rupert's voice, heard the anger there, asking her if she was getting a laugh out of what she was saying and doing, Lee opened her eyes, half expecting to see the barrel of his gun pointing directly at her. When she saw that it wasn't, saw that he was still sitting in his chair across from her, Lee couldn't stop the sigh of relief from escaping. Yes, she had already resigned herself to dying if that's what was going to happen, but that didn't mean she wasn't glad to live, if only for a few more minutes.

"Oh yeah, because waiting for you to change your mind and kill me is so entertaining," Lee said, and was somewhat surprised about where that snarkiness had come from. Well, if he were going to, Rupert would decide on it regardless of what she said, right, so what did it really matter?

"That night, yeah I moved that fast, but that's because I had energy," Lee pointed out, though by this point she didn't figure it would matter, Rupert likely wouldn't listen. "Right now, I wouldn't stand a chance. This damn collar of yours keeps me from getting enough energy to do more than simply drag myself around the camp."

Lee had had enough, though. Rupert was being...well, he was being more like the man she had first met than the one who had called her into his office earlier. Leaning back in the chair still, Lee looked steadily over at Rupert.

"Can we get this over with?" Lee asked. "Until you brought it up, killing you had never even crossed my mind. But if you're going to, could you at least make it as quick and painless as possible? I'll even let you take me outside so you don't get blood all over your office, though it might compliment that coffee stain nicely."

Lee paused for a brief moment to let Rupert think about that before she continued. "If you're not going to, could we stop talking about it? If this is really going to happen today, I think we've got a few more important things to worry about."

~ "Oh yeah, because waiting for you to change your mind and kill me is so entertaining."

"Just as entertaining as being siphoned to death, I beat." Rupert snapped back.

~ "That night, yeah I moved that fast, but that's because I had energy. Right now, I wouldn't stand a chance. This damn collar of yours keeps me from getting enough energy to do more than simply drag myself around the camp."

Rupert sneered, but held his tongue. Oh, poor little freak--didn't have enough energy to move faster than everyone else; had to drag herself around like a mere human. Really, it just about broke his heart.

~ "Can we get this over with? ...Until you brought it up, killing you had never even crossed my mind. But if you're going to, could you at least make it as quick and painless as possible? I'll even let you take me outside so you don't get blood all over your office, though it might compliment that coffee stain nicely."

"I brought it up? I did?" Rupert indignantly started, leaning forward in his chair. "Like hell. Don't get all melodramatic on me. You're the one who got started with that 'I've been eating your energy all along' scpheal. It's too late to audition for the role of 'innocent'." He could have launched into a formidable tirade just then, but unfortunately, he had to stop for breath. His breathing hadn't exactly been slow and steady in recent minutes, and now he was wheezing. Unconsciously, he started massaging his left side.

~ "If you're not going to, could we stop talking about it? If this is really going to happen today, I think we've got a few more important things to worry about."

He stared at her as he fought to get his breathe back. "Yeah," he agreed finally, attempting to straightened back up. "Yeah. One question, though: does that power of yours not work as well if I'm further away?"

Despite what they were talking about, despite the seriousness of the situation, Lee couldn't stop her eyes from rolling at Rupert's accusation that she was siphoning him to death. "Yeah, you might have to actually worry about that if you actually let me touch you for however long that would take. And I'm guessing it would take at least ten minutes for you to become unconscious if I were even trying. If I'm trying not to siphon, which believe me, is most of the time, it'd take hours before you'd pass out."

Rupert continued, though. Yup, she had been right, it didn't matter what she said, he wasn't really listening. What was the point? But before he could really get himself on a roll, Rupert had stopped talking, his breathing more of a wheeze than normal.

At least as he worked to catch his breath again, Rupert seemed to have gotten it through his mind that dealing with the breakout was much more important than what they had been talking about.

Though, Lee realized with slight disappointment, that didn't stop Rupert from further questioning about her powers. Nodding slightly, Lee dropped her eyes again. "It does get stronger the closer people get to me," she told him softly. "I know you won't actually believe it, but I hate what I do to people. If you don't actually touch me, I can't imagine you should really feel it a whole lot."

Lee took another breath before she looked up at Rupert. "Can't you just accept that I'm not going to do anything to you?" She asked. "Haven't I already agreed to try to keep the others from killing you, and do what I can to make sure Raina gets out safely?"

~ "It does get stronger the closer people get to me. I know you won't actually believe it, but I hate what I do to people. If you don't actually touch me, I can't imagine you should really feel it a whole lot. ...Can't you just accept that I'm not going to do anything to you? Haven't I already agreed to try to keep the others from killing you, and do what I can to make sure Raina gets out safely?"

Rupert was still wheezing; not badly enough that he couldn't talk, but badly enough that he could use it as an excuse to not talk. She said that he should barely--if even at all--feel the effects of her siphoning. He believed her about that. He didn't want to, but he believed her. No matter what the cause, he was feeling tired now. Drained. His excitement from earlier? It wasn't gone, but it was thoroughly dampened. Rupert stood up, and grabbed two things off of the desk: the tissue box, and the remote. He tucked the remote back into his inner coat pocket. He walked the tissues back to the shelf on the far wall, and put it back in its place. When he was done, he turned around, and leaned against the shelf. Even if she wasn't taking much of his energy, even if she couldn't help it, it didn't mean he had to sit there and take it. There wasn't much that Rupert could do right now, especially not with her getting all... all... human on him. He'd take a freak in his face over one lowering their gaze any day.

"If we're going to stop talking about... that, then let's just stop talking about it." Rupert cleared his throat, and tried to make his lean as casual as possible. "So. About the breakout."

Rupert didn't say anything about her explanation about her powers. Nor did he look happy, though he also didn't look unhappy. He kinda just looked at her as he sat there, his breathing still not exactly normal.

Still without saying anything, Lee saw Rupert stand up and grab the remote off the desk once more, and she couldn't stop her whole body from tensing at that. A moment later, Lee relaxed again, and let out a soft sigh of relief as she saw Rupert not only pick up the tissue box as well, but also tuck the remote away in his jacket once more.

It was only when he had put the tissues away, and had leaned against the shelf, that Rupert finally spoke. And suggested that if they were going to stop talking about killing each other and powers, that they actually stop. Lee was fine with that. Before they had started on that topic, their conversation had actually been cordial. She nodded. No sense actually saying anything else about it.

Yeah, about the breakout. That was the entire reason that she had been brought into the office in the first place. But really, what about the breakout? Lee sat there and thought for a couple moments. What else could they really say about it that they hadn't already discussed? It was happening that day, Rupert had gotten the call to get him ready, and he was going to shut off the collars when it started. She was getting out alive, at least as far as Rupert was concerned, though he had asked her to make sure that Raina did as well if possible. And make sure that no one killed him if she had anyway to stop it.

"Anything else you can tell me?" Lee ended up asking, looking across the room at Rupert. "Areas that'll have more guards than normal once this starts that I should avoid? Areas that'll be easier to get through?"

Lee paused for a second before continuing in a slightly softer voice. She wasn't sure how Rupert would react to this question, even though the information would be just as important, if not more so. "What does she look like so I can find her easier?"

~ "Anything else you can tell me? ...Areas that'll have more guards than normal once this starts that I should avoid? Areas that'll be easier to get through?"

Rupert rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm expecting it to be chaos. The Camp has emergency plans, but we don't exactly have guards with the brains to remember them. I imagine they'll flock towards where the main action seems to be." Unflattering, but true.

~ "What does she look like so I can find her easier?"

Rupert diverted his gaze to the window. "She has black hair. It's short now. We... it was shaved off when she was first brought here, but its grown back some. She has... gray eyes. She's Canadian, a native--Inuit, I think. I never asked. Her last name is Hiltz. Raina Hiltz."

Lee could do nothing but nod as she heard Rupert's guess about what would happen once the breakout started. All she'd have to do was avoid the main areas of fighting, and she'd be able to avoid most of the guards since they'd be drawn to the action. Unless of course she came across guards that were off by themselves, looking for hiding and escaping mutants. Great, just great.

When she had asked about Raina, Lee could see Rupert's uncomfortableness as he looked toward the covered window. But if she was to really be much help in getting the woman out, Lee had to know, right? Rupert really didn't seem to like being this exposed, especially to her her, so Lee lowered her eyes a bit. "I think I remember seeing her before," Lee told the man across from her softly. "If it's at all possible, I'll try to get her out of here safely."

~ "I think I remember seeing her before. If it's at all possible, I'll try to get her out of here safely."

Rupert just gave a curt nod. He cleared his throat. "Thank you. Watch out for your own back, too." He looked back to Lee, frowning briefly at her lowered gaze. Now why was she doing that? He let it go.

"I'm not sure what else there is to say. I probably shouldn't have told you any of this--now you'll just be on edge all day. Sorry."

He looked to the window again, shifted his weight, and finally dragged his gaze back to the woman. "I... should probably turn your collar back on, before you go back out there. It's just for a few more hours." He was sorry for that, too.

Lee looked up at Rupert in slight surprise when he apologized to her for telling her about the breakout. Rupert Kelley, the man who as far as far as she could tell hated her because he feared what she was, was actually apologizing to her. This was not something Lee would have figured would happen, at least not coming from the man in front of her.

"Because I wasn't going to be on edge all day for one reason or another anyway," Lee said in reply. Then she gave Rupert a small, one sided smile. "But thanks."

But then Rupert was finally looking at her again, and his expression was still looking apologetic. And though his words caused Lee to tense slightly, she knew that he was right; she couldn't exactly go back out there with her collar off, too many guards knew what it did when they touched her. That would be far too great of a tip off, if not about the breakout per se, at least about Rupert.

She nodded her head and took a deep breath. If her collar was being turned back on, she needed to make sure she was siphoning as little as possible. She didn't want the collar to start shocking her right away, after all. "Just let me know when I'm good to go," Lee told Rupert softly, her tone resigned.

The resignation in her voice stung a hell of a lot more than any anger would have. Rupert winced slightly as he brought his remote out of his pocket. He had to reach behind him on the bookshelf and take out a sheaf of stapled white paper, and page through it until he found Lee's name. Turning off a single collar was easy; just point and click, and the nearest freak got their collar turned off. It was meant to be used when a guard had "accidentally" started shocking a mutant to death, and a supervisor needed to override them immediately. Turning a collar back on was harder. Since each collar was coded to a specific mutant's powers, each collar required an activation code specific to that mutant. He had to look up Lee's number, or face the prospect of her writhing on the ground because the generic settings didn't like that her powers were always on. He didn't explain this process. It really seemed like information she wouldn't care about. He just found her number, keyed it in, and voila: instant slavery.

"You're good to go," he said simply, borrowing her words.

Once she'd gone, he was left with two pleasant tasks: waiting for the Resistance to show up, and cleaning up his own d**n coffee spill mess.

((ooc: Continued for Rupert in Stage 2, the Ground Assault.))

Even though Lee knew that Rupert needed to do this, and, scary as the thought might be, she knew that at that point in time he was one of the few people in the world she could actually trust, she still didn't like the fact that he had the remote in his hand, and her body instinctively tensed slightly. Like it or not, Lee knew that Rupert had to turn her collar back on, though, so Lee simply sat there and watched as he reached behind him for some papers. And then proceeded to flip through them, apparently looking for something.

It really didn't take long at all, and Rupert stopped flipping the sheets, looked at the paper for a moment, then keyed something into the remote.

"You're good to go," he said simply, borrowing her words.

Lee nodded and stood up, looking across at Rupert for another moment. She really didn't know what to say, though; they had already said everything Lee would think would be important, so she simply gave Rupert a small, tight lipped smile before turning and walking out of the office.

But what now? Lee knew the breakout was coming, that day apparently, but not what time. And she wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not even the other mutants who were prisoners like her so they could prepare. As she walked along, noticing with a glance that none of the guards had really taken much notice of her yet. Maybe she should take a page out of Rupert's book and hide out until things started, Lee decided.