he’s already on his way when he gets the call.

he’s ready for all-out combat when he lands on the sidewalk from above, break-falling and rolling to his feet smoothly, already striding toward the police line. full costume, full equipment, steel in his posture and in his eyes. he’s already considering the building plans someone has handed to him, listening to the commissioner’s preamble. he knows, but he lets the man talk.

“we’ll see, then, huh?” sigma is known for his calmness in crisis, and the way he passes the tablet displaying the plans to the commissioner is almost casual. “focus your men on holding the crowd at a safe distance. if it comes to a fight then that’s the most important thing.”

and then he walks.

stealth is, potentially, an option, but something tells him the best thing to do is be straight up with this guy. he doesn’t feel a trap, everything seems to be the doing of someone on the level but desperate, and he’s... well. he’s not interested in getting anyone killed.

he moves through the doors, palms raised. empty-handed but not vulnerable - straight-backed, confident. eyes front.

“you asked for me, i’m here.” he doesn’t raise his voice - just projects it, the words ringing in the open lobby. “i’m gonna move out of the doorway, and then you can maybe tell me why. that work for you?”

the heavy boots don’t make a single sound on the marble tile as he moves.

Azrael

the casual greeting is... kind of unexpected.

sigma stands tall, slowly letting his hands drop. his natural, most comfortable position on duty is the standard ‘at ease’ of feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped at the small of his back, but it’s never something he does when faced with situations like this - it leaves him open, for one, but it also puts his hands just above his equipment belt, specifically the pouch of glucose shots, and he doesn’t want to seem threatening.

he folds his hands in front of himself instead, listening, but his gaze wandering. flicking from tied hostage to tied hostage, to the various exits and vantage points. probably still not a trap, but it pays to be alert. even if the guy is going on about conspiracies, sigma’s priority is to defuse the situation and ensure return of the hostages. he doesn’t quite prevent the eye-roll at the man’s assertion that he’s not ‘some kind of criminal’.

“you’re the one who wanted me specifically,” he says, finally, eyes on azrael as the man looks out at the media circus. “might be partly me, and partly because you put down a six-man team of initiative heroes in a bank, which by the way is technically illegal even if you claim to have justification. your pick.” there’s a clipped edge to his soft voice. “you get used to the attention. i’ve been doing this as long as anyone else has.”

there’s a pause. he’s thinking. government, initiative influence. the fact that this ‘azrael’ is worth that sort of attention, somehow, how likely is that? he can’t remember any dispatches about an azrael so he’s fairly sure there have never been any, but aliases are a thing for a reason when criminals are involved. “about that. you singled me out. you seem confident that i’m not under the influence of whoever it is you say has framed you. why is that?”

Azrael