A Rightly Timed Pause

Participants:

cardinal3_icon.gif peyton_icon.gif

Scene Title A Rightly Timed Pause
Synopsis An unlikely source gives Cardinal new perspective on the question of some missing scientists.
Date March 19, 2010

Upper West Side Peyton's Apartment


“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” - Mark Twain

Life on house arrest, as Peyton can't help but think of her decision to keep her activities to a very small radius around her house and doing nothing that might be considered suspicious by anyone (Company or otherwise) tailing her, is boring — especially when the snow is taller than she is in places. She's been keeping to her own apartment, but a little bit of cabin fever had her running out for a fresh bagel and cup of coffee made by someone other than herself. Oh, Starbucks, how she has missed thee!

It isn't too long before the frigid wintry air outside, despite the fact that it's very nearly spring in name, makes her long for the warmth of her apartment. She stops by her mailbox in the lobby, and carrying the pile of mail (bills and magazines — no one writes letters these days!) and her cup of coffee, heads back up to her apartment.

A trailing edge of tattered wings seems to unfurl from Peyton's shadow as she makes her way back up, although it isn't until she gets inside that he speaks - a hollow, echoing whisper, "How are you doing, Peyton? I passed on the badge numbers to D. Crypt…" Alia…

Peyton startles slightly when the black tatters separate from her own shadow, causing her to drop the mail. Pause flutters to the ground, opening to the article on Peter which Peyton scowls at for a moment. Leaning against the door, speaking quietly — if Ryans installed a bug, it was down in the hallway or in her room, so this far away should be safe — or so she assumes.

"I'm fine — did they come up as Company or is she still looking into it?" she asks quietly. "I didn't pass on to you that he's sick, did I." She nods at the magazine before stooping to pick it up. Why is he in the magazine anyway? He said he wanted to be 'normal' - normal people aren't highlighted in the media.

"She's still looking into it. The poor girl's snowed in with Magnes of all people…" A twist of black humor to his voice, the shadow skittering up along Peyton's back, draping over her shoulder to see what she's looking at. "Peter? Is it the 510…?" The virus…

"I think so. He was wearing a face mask under his scarf," Peyton says, brows knitting a little as she moves to the dining room to take a seat, setting the magazine open so he can read it. She takes a sip of her venti nonfat cinnamon dolce latte and frowns down at the page. "What is this, why is he in here?" she wonders, flipping back to the cover… Twelve most interesting people in NYC. "What, no one thought to interview moi?" she quips. "I must be losing my touch. Not that I would have said yes these days."

"The twelve most interesting people? Oh, do tell…" Do tell… A stir of amusement, and Cardinal asks, "…who else is in there, aside from the Petrelli Ostrich himself?" Himself…

"Ostrich?" she asks, looking amused, and flips to the beginning of the section, to glance at each. "Say when to turn the page. I'll be your hands," Peyton says softly. "Anything else happening I should know about? I warned Faye by the way — just in case… they somehow approach her. I didn't want her to be surprised. She didn't know about him — what he can do."

"She did… confirm what he said, though…?" A concerned whispering from Cardinal as she says those words; after all, there was no confirmation before aside from what the man himself claimed. "And yes, he chooses to pretend that nothing bad is going on, and the government can— wait…" Wait… "…what's that name? After the First Lady…" Petrelli…

"That he's my father… yeah," Peyton says, her voice neutral though she looks away for a moment. Is it worse not knowing who her father is or was, for the rest of her life, or knowing it is someone who in her own words has played God, who is living an unnatural and evil life by draining others — no matter how bad — of their own? She hasn't decided yet. Faye spoke of him as kind and gentle; Cardinal seems to think of him as worth protecting. She herself leans to the side of not knowing — ignorance is bliss. "Jean Martin Luis?" she says, flipping the page back.

"Doctor Luis? No, no, it couldn't be…" Can it…? As the article is turned to, Cardinal slithers and tendrils along down her arm, spreading over the magazine's pages, "…Mohinder Suresh? He works at the Commonwealth… Institute… this must be him! In a fucking magazine and we're looking all over…" All over…

"Who is he? Is he one of the doctors you're looking for?" Peyton says, skimming the article, reading it or trying to between the tendrils of shadow that cover it. "Is he … one of the good ones or bad ones?" Oh, Peyton. Leave it to her to simplify so… simply. "He doesn't sound bad. Kinda sounds like a nice guy. Mohinder is that Suresh guy's son, right? Chandra?"

"That's a very, very good question…" A good question… A whispering hiss from Cardinal, "…we're going to need to find him… if we can find him, we can find the others…//

"It says he works at this place in Cambridge… how far back do they prepare these interviews? I know some magazines are like months ahead of time but this one is a bit more regional, it might have a shorter prep time. Especially with stuff like this that might be time-sensitive. If he says he works there — is he missing or did people just assume he was?"

"Luis was the one unknown in the images the precogs were recieving, we didn't know exactly who he was…" The shadow slithers away from the magazine, then, and Cardinal muses, "…we'll have to find him. We need to go out and talk to Liette - but it'll be hard to get anyone else out to Staten Island with me…" With me…

Peyton frowns. Again, she has that twinge of guilt for looking in on Brennan, and now Liette — she saw them travel to Staten Island and to the little cabin off the beaten path, though she missed some of the travel route to get there. Still, she trusts Cardinal and knows he wouldn't have asked her if it wasn't important.

"I would go but… that might compromise them… it's a safehouse, wherever they are, I'm not sure exactly, but I know it has to be one. I wouldn't want those agents to tail me to them. I could look through their eyes — Ryans' and Webbs' — to make sure they weren't watching me, but that doesn't mean that some other people might not be, right?" She frowns at the idea. "I could try to call Brennan and arrange a meeting?"

"I'm fairly certain that I… know where they are. They won't have a cell phone. Rebel spooked them off technology…" A thoughtful whispering from Cardinal's shadowy form, "…I suppose I'll just have to go alone, and hope he doesn't try and… negate me." Kill me.

"Cardinal."

Her eyes are wide. "Tell him … tell him you're my friend. I don't know if it will help but … I mean, they don't have to help you, but tell him not to negate you, for my sake." She swallows audibly, clearly distraught at the thought of losing him again. "I would tell you not to go but I know that's pointless — just … be careful. What about Cat? I can ask her — I saw her there, one of the days. I can call and ask her for … I don't know what. If she can get in contact with them for a meeting… so you don't surprise them and … Brennan."

"I'll keep out of… direct visual contact when I talk to him. Maybe if he knows he has the ability to kill me, he'll take it as a gesture of… trust," Cardinal admits quietly, "It'd at least… keep him from doing it by accident." Accident…

"Don't… Just be careful… I don't want to lose you again," Peyton says quietly, though she manages not to cry. "How does she know about the scientists, anyway, this girl? She's like, a kid. I don't understand."

"We'll find out," Cardinal whispers, "One way or another…" Another…


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