Change of Heart (BCAD)

[Kitten]

Spencer flushed with a soft grin. He'd been doing that a lot lately, to the point where a coworker had asked if he was feeling feverish. "Well I mean, it's not big deal. If I see him, I-uh I mean them. Then I see them." He took another bite and swallowed more coffee, feeling a little better as he went to sit by the other.

"Yeah we'll head out in a minute, you can eat in the car no problem. You'll give your statement in front of the board. Answer any additional questions they have that you can. Of course anything you say is not liable, so don't feel like you need to hide anything illegal." He hummed thoughtfully and took another sip. "I'll be there on your behalf so if the questions get too invasive or you think they're pushing you for information you don't have then I'll put a stop to it." He managed a careless shrug in spite of the tension coiling in his stomach. The big coffee had been a mistake. "Once you've given all you know then we can leave. Someone will be there taking notes."

[BCAD]

Isaac picked up on the slip and smirked a little to himself.
"I see," he nodded along to what Spencer explained. It all sounded fairly straightforward, and he was quite sure that he could handle whatever the board would ask. He wondered if he would recognise any of them, if any old foes would be present. That could be interesting. It might be childish, but part of him still found it amusing that old enemies had to let bygones be bygones because of the contract. He was their ally now, whether they liked it or not. Max was clearly still not too pleased about it, and he imagined that he wasn't alone in that.

Soon, the two men walked down to Spencer's car and set off to the office building. Isaac chewed on a bagel unenthusiastically during the ride. He wondered how secretive this whole thing was. Surely, there was no way for Morgan (or anyone else who might wish to do him harm) to have found out about the time or location of the meeting?
"How long do you think this will take?" He asked, just to get rid of the silence in the car and to stop his mind whirring along at 100mph.

[Kitten]

Spencer looked up from his phone where he was shooting Max a quick text that he and Isaac were on the way to the office. "How long?" He considered it for a moment before simply shrugging. "As long as you let it I suppose. Give them what you have, answer whatever you can, and then give me the signal and we'll draw the meeting to a close." He'd been a little more relaxed in the car, this was the kind of work he was used to. As they pulled up to the curb for the driver to let them out however, the brunette began running a hand through his hair and the nerves started to build.

He offered a false, easy smile as he stepped out and started to show the grey eyed man into the building. "Stick close, you're something of an oddity in the office and people are nosy." Sure enough as they walked through the hallways heads peeked up over cubicles and several people just 'happened' to be heading to get coffee or use the restroom. The green eyed man didn't appreciate the scrutiny or the odd silence in the building so he made a quick trip from the front door to the upstairs conference room.

Outside the door Spencer cleaned his glasses once more, ran his hand through his hair, and gave his charge a genuine, if brief, smile. "You'll do great."

[BCAD]

Isaac, on the other hand, didn't mind the attention. He found the workers' lack of subtlety rather amusing, and there were quite a few bits of eye candy amongst the staff. He overheard murmurs like 'So that's the infamous Isaac Rice?', 'He's smaller than I thought he would be!', 'He's actually kind of cute.' Of course, he knew better than to think that all the murmurings were to be taken positively. Many of them would be looking him over skeptically, wondering if what he brought to them was worth the risks he presented. Truthfully, from their point of view, he wasn't certain he was worth the risks either. But he wasn't about to say that.

When Spencer returned, Isaac stood by him and began to feel a slight nervousness at the sudden realness of the situation. He had allowed himself to feel quite laid back in the ride over, perhaps because Spencer was relatively very nervy. However, now, being here, just about to go in and meet the board, he was aware of the magnitude of what he was doing. How he was the first of the infamous villains to change sides.

"Thank you. I hope so." He replied to Spencer's assurance, a slight hint of vulnerability in his voice.

[Kitten]

Spencer put a hand on Isaac's arm briefly and then it was go time. This time there were no flashes from paparazzi, no journalists or questions or people shouting. There was only the long table in front of them with microphones and water glasses. The brunette pulled out a chair for the grey eyed man and sat next to him, leaning forward to give his little spiel about why everyone was there and under what terms Isaac would be speaking. He reminded the severe looking men and women across from them to conduct themselves with decorum.

With the preliminaries over, and once the stenographer indicated that he was ready, Spencer took a sip of water and leaned to the microphone once more. "Isaac Rice will now give his accounts, to the best of his knowledge, of all illegal and possibly valuable information that he can. Once you have indicated that you are done Isaac, then the floor will be open to questions." He sat back a little to open his notepad and begin taking notes.

[BCAD]

Isaac looked over the collection of people. They ranged from their thirties to their sixties, men and women, and all very prim and proper looking. He didn't recognise any of their faces, but he was sure if he was told their names, he would recognise most of them. It was somewhat surreal to be so close to so many of the higher ups in the fight against supervillainy, yet be under no threat from them. It would take some time to get used to. He bowed his head slightly and introduced himself.

"Thank you for the opportunity, ladies and gentlemen. As was said, my name is Isaac Rice and I will do my best to recall as much important information for your praiseworthy and noble cause." He knew that he was being a bit of a kiss ass, but he sensed that was better than allowing any dry sarcasm to enter his voice (as was usually the case when he spoke to Max).

Having an excellent memory, Isaac spoke for quite a long time on various prominent figures in the criminal underworld. He told them about where they stored their supplies (weapons, vehicles, ammunition, etc.), where they frequented for both social and business purposes, the names of their friends and associates that were not as established in the underworld so might be easier to get ahold of. Despite having mingled with many of them for years, he felt little personal fondness for the people he was speaking about, so spoke candidly and without holding anything back. Eventually, when he felt that he had said al that was relevant and useful he gave the board a small, rather charming smile. He felt like he'd done quite well and probably impressed them.

"Do you have any questions?"

[Kitten]

There was a smattering of applause, many of those sitting on the board hadn't expected any cooperation from the former villain, much less this level of frank honesty. There was some mumbling between them as they considered what to ask, and how to ask it within the parameters given to them.

"What do you say to the allegations that you switched sides to seek asylum from your own mistakes? That you betrayed and used members of your community to the extent that you are, even now, being hunted down?" The man had a thick mustache and a bald head, one big vein bulging on the side of his head.

Spencer put a hand over the microphone in front of Isaac, his voice ice cold. "Please keep questions relevant and impersonal."

"What about the danger you bring to your current team? Do these men know what you're capable of? That you're going to-" The man would not be deterred, shouting and standing.

"Sir, if you don't calm down-" Spencer spoke loudly to be heard of the ranting.

"Their deaths will be on your head!"

"Sir!"

With a deafening sound the power shut off, plunging them all into darkness. The room filled with screaming and people dropping onto the ground, outside there could be heard running and shouting, the crack of small arms fire. Then finally, silence.

[BCAD]

Isaac was more surprised by the smattering of applause that he received than the sharp criticism from the bald man with a moustache. Truthfully, he had half expected them to all be like that. Perhaps secretly impressed, begrudgingly thankful, but also bitter towards his past actions and alliances. He was about to open his mouth to respond to his interrogator, to tell him that he was a changed man and that he need not fear. However, he was interrupted when the room was suddenly plunged into darkness with a loud sparking sound.

Isaac had no formal training for such circumstances, but before he could even think, he dropped to the floor. He had grabbed Spencer's arm before thinking of it, partly to defend his new ally, partly because Spencer was just someone to hold onto. Despite not being particularly fast, the sense of emergency spurred him on and he moved quickly behind a table, near to where the others in the board were also cowering.

"What... What's going on?" He asked frantically, in a hushed but panicked whisper.

The timing was too convenient. The moment he asked that, he began to realise whatever was going on probably had something to do with him.

[Kitten]

Spencer was on the floor beside him, flipping the safety off on his gun and pulling out his cellphone. He cursed at the thing. "I think someone is jamming the signal in here." It was too dark to see anything so he kept close to Isaac's body heat, tugging his arm to keep the other still. "Wait," his breath seemed loud in the silence that was punctuated only by the sound of gunfire and occasional screams. "We need to get out of here. There's no way this is a coincidence."

The adrenaline in his body was in full affect, he wished he could just call Max. If they left then someone could come in and kill the people gathered, but they had no idea who was in the building or where. "One of these people may have come to this conference to kill you." He licked his lips nervously, pushing up his glasses even though it was pointless. "What's the plan here? I can cover you but," he breathed. "We might have to get all the way to my apartment alone before we can call for help. It's... It's your life Isaac. What do you want to do?"

[BCAD]

Issaac swallowed deeply. Of course, his first instinct was to save his own skin. The villain in him told him to disregard the others in the room and think of himself. He shook his head. No, not only was that not how he operated anymore, Spencer would never agree to it. They needed a plan that got them out safe, but also got the others out safe too. Or at least, most of them.

"No one else is armed," he observed, thinking that was almost certain given the make up of the board room. "I don't think we can realistically fight our way out. But we also can't stay here."

He breathed out, forcing himself to stay calm. To think.

"They'll find us soon. All they need is to look through all the meeting rooms, or find someone who knows and force them to speak. I think... Our best course of action is to wait until they come here, try our best to knock them out or otherwise incapacitate them, and take their weapons. Then we can leave."

It was a risky strategy. Very risky. But he doubted that for such a large building that they would be sending everyone to each room. They would be broken up into smaller teams. Perhaps only pairs, or groups of three or four. No more than that, surely. Hopefully. If they acted quickly, stood by the door, they could possibly jump them when they came through. He squeezed Spencer's arm tightly, clearly not one-hundred percent confident in his line of thinking, and that uncertainty making him all the more afraid of the situation.