Mike held a steady, albeit slightly stiff gait as he emerged through the break in the fence and out into the city. Mike wasn't a stranger to out-of-the-ordinary situations, but this certainly topped his list for the time being. The city didn't look familiar. It was colder than New Mexico and lacked the dusty terrain. But how did he end up here, wherever this was? He was certain it was mere minutes ago that he was tearing through the desert in his car. Looking back, yes, that was indeed his car but it was crashed in the middle of a baseball field and he knew something had to have brought him to this spot. But what?
As Mike was pondering all of this, he kept moving, no destination in mind but looking at him wouldn't give that impression. His steps were sure-footed. Just when he was about to head towards the first building he spotted, a voice broke through his thoughts. Mike's training lended him the ability to recognize and remember people by voice. More often than not names weren't used over the phone, so it did him well to remember what those he worked for and with sounded like. Gus's voice was unmistakeable, one he'd heard hundreds of times on the other end of his phone and the sound startled him, his head snapping towards the direction it had come from.
There was Gus. In the flesh, walking towards him. But how could this be? He knew well enough that those high up on the chain of command couldn't mistake a thing like Gus being murdered, so something else had to be going on. An unusual look of shock came across Mike's face and a hand came up to pull his sunglasses off, thinking he must be mistaken.
"Gus...?" The questioning tone in his voice was unusual, too. After a moment, the shock began to wear off and frustration took hold. Mike didn't kill unnecessarily. There was always a reason. A cut-and-dry purpose. "You mind tellin' me why on Earth I was called this morning?" His voice lowered and his eyes briefly glanced from one side to another to be sure nobody else was within earshot. "Why I was told you were..." He trailed off. It was unnecessary to finish. Blown to bits? Bombed to hell? Any which was he'd put it was too much to think about, feeling the potential of his temper building in his pulse.
10/18 - afternoon
As Mike was pondering all of this, he kept moving, no destination in mind but looking at him wouldn't give that impression. His steps were sure-footed. Just when he was about to head towards the first building he spotted, a voice broke through his thoughts. Mike's training lended him the ability to recognize and remember people by voice. More often than not names weren't used over the phone, so it did him well to remember what those he worked for and with sounded like. Gus's voice was unmistakeable, one he'd heard hundreds of times on the other end of his phone and the sound startled him, his head snapping towards the direction it had come from.
There was Gus. In the flesh, walking towards him. But how could this be? He knew well enough that those high up on the chain of command couldn't mistake a thing like Gus being murdered, so something else had to be going on. An unusual look of shock came across Mike's face and a hand came up to pull his sunglasses off, thinking he must be mistaken.
"Gus...?" The questioning tone in his voice was unusual, too. After a moment, the shock began to wear off and frustration took hold. Mike didn't kill unnecessarily. There was always a reason. A cut-and-dry purpose. "You mind tellin' me why on Earth I was called this morning?" His voice lowered and his eyes briefly glanced from one side to another to be sure nobody else was within earshot. "Why I was told you were..." He trailed off. It was unnecessary to finish. Blown to bits? Bombed to hell? Any which was he'd put it was too much to think about, feeling the potential of his temper building in his pulse.