Participants:
| Scene Title | Go Team! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | …it's where Cardinal draws the line. |
| Date | December 11, 2010 |
Redbird Security — Apartment
"See."
His finger pushes against the cheek of the red haired woman. Her face flopping over the side limply. "Completely gone." His fingers go to set themselves to either side of the comatose woman's lips. Gently pulling them up into a smile, his other hand comes into play. Opening her mouth, "Pleaase," the voice is in a high pitched falsetto, "Rescue me Brian! I can't wake up because some stupid ghost girl ruined my life and you're my only chance at having a real life again and you have great facial structure!" The lips flop open and closed, manipulated by the man in her forced monologue.
Removing his hands from Delia's face, Brian gives a sad solemn nod. "I will rescue you, Delia. And save you from the stupid ghost girl." Standing in his military green jacket, with a dark green cap pulled low, the young man looks extremely tired. Perhaps it's all the sleeping medication he's taking, forcing at least one of him to sleep as much as possible whenever possible to have more chance to drag Delia back to her body. But.. Speaking of stupid ghost girls.
Half turning to smile at the woman behind him. "So this is the redbird apartment, where part of me is staying until Sleeping Booty wakes up." A thumb is jerked over his shoulder. "Place is run by fella named Cardinal. Which he should be here soon. I asked him to come down when he had a minute." Going to flop on the edge of the bed, Winters extends one hand to his more awake companion. "C'mere."
The apartment has been getting gradually messier as Brian has been staying here. The initial two days turned into longer, as Brian has struggled with his current task of waking up Delia. But he is still insistent that he can do it. The two only just recently found shelter in the apartment within Redbird security. Another Brian was already here.. but he had already slept. So the sleepless one gets to take the next shift.
There's a girlishly light smack against Brian's shoulder at the words, "That's just mean! You shouldn't move her lips like that! Annnnnd it's not like I did on purpose! I didn't know how to be solid and just for the record that eyebrow guy," yeah, she means Gabriel, "couldn't even have tugged us back using phasing with the help of your sister— hence tornado mess of dizzy," which, from the way Samara says it, sounds like a technical term.
Her eyes flit towards Delia again, reaching out to squeeze the redhead’s shoulder, “Is she going to be okay?” The squeeze is met with no reaction, no sign of consciousness, which only draws Sami into a very small frown and a very quiet apology, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have vanished while sleeping.” Not that she could help it. While it may not be easy to suppress the eternal optimist’s spirit, guilt has an unusually adverse reaction. “She’s not going to die, is she? I mean… not soon. Not because of— ” the unspoken word is just left to linger, just enough of a personal insecurity to work it’s magic in the room. Skeptically her eyebrows arch as she finally reaches out back towards Brian, grasping the hand offered to her while she joins him on the edge of the bed.
”Cardinal? Really? Is that like his first name? I mean, I realize Samara is far from ordinary and Tahir on a very caucasian guy is downright comical… buuuuut Cardinal. Like— I got teased in school for having such a weird name. Sometimes I think parents give their children ridiculous names because secretly they want them to suffer in middle school being called something ridiculous. I won out in my family; I got the best name because.. well Sami is normal enough. Even if SamEye isn’t— “
"It's not mean!" Brian defends rapidly. "She would think it was funny if she was awake enough to realize how funny it is… But she's not." Smirking a little bit at the tornado mess of dizzy. "No that's what the IV thingie and food tube are for. She'll be fine. We just gotta wake her up. We'll get her back. It's just taking longer than I expected. What would be helpful. She's supposed to have a brother. No one seems to know about him.. So I'm trying to find him. But." He gives a shrug. "Hard work."
Taking the hand, he pulls her rather violently to join him on the bed. Grinning, he goes to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Anyways. I got new pants today. Check out these pleats." Motioning to his slacks with his other hand, he gives her an emphatic smile. Bringing her hand up, his other hand goes to trace the lines on her palms idly after the pleats thing turned out to be just a passing fancy. His eyes skip up every now and then as if expecting someone to come in. But…
"It's my surname, actually… or at least the one I was given… was given…"
A whisper slides through the room, haunting and echoing as a shadow creeps its way up the wall, twisting into the silhouette of a man against it despite there being no man for it to cast. "It's a little more memorable than Richard though, you'll have to admit… admit…"
The shadow bulges outwards then, peeling away from the wall and into three dimensions, spilling away from flesh and bone and clothing as Richard Cardinal steps into the room. He's dressed in black BDUs and a fleece-lined jacket with the Redbird Security design across the back, a Chicago Air patch on the shoulder. He cracks his neck to one side, then the other, hand lifting to pull the shades from his face and clicking the arms closed, "…and pleated pants went out back in the seventies, Brian."
"Random. I wish no one knew about my brother," Samara jokes with a lopsided grin. "You'd think her parents would know at least, right? Otherwise… that makes him like a non-relative, doesn't it? It would be quite the feat for you to be born without your parents knowing. Just sayin'." She shrugs and giggles lightly as she's tugged onto the bed. "And with the ability thing… I don't know how to turn it on again. I mean, it took four years to turn it off. What if that happens again?" Her eyebrows arch incredulously.
The pants comment actually has Sami smirking at Brian momentarily before noting, "I think pleats went out …" Her eyes very quickly glance towards the aforementioned pleats only to flit back to where the whisper came through moments later amid a slight flush to her cheeks. Mental note: don't check out pleats if invited to do so by random stranger, it could be some vague pick up line.
Her eyes widen at the newly entered man as Sam rises slowly from her spot on the bed. It doesn't take her long to bounce back from the unusual entrance though as she glances at Brian and then back to Cardinal with a broad grin, "I like Richard. Then people can call you Richie, like Richie Rich! Which I think could make any kid smile. I mean.. if they know who he is— "
"Yeah. I expected that reaction. But think about it. You were severely scared. You overdid it in a fit of… scaredism. If you approach it gingerly.. I mean. Yeah. I don't think you'll get stuck like that again. Besides you've had four years of pracitce, even if you didn't know it. You could move things.. Like water and you kissed my cheek that one time. You have a little control at least, on the other extreme. If we practice…" But his attention is brought away from her.
"Or Dickie." Brian quickly pipes in, looking a little agitated at Cardinal's sudden entrance. "There's a perfectly good door over there, asshole. I don't bust into your room naked all the time." He notes, pushing off the bed he goes to stand with Samara. "Sameye, this is Dick Cardinal. Dickie, this is Sami. Samara. Samara Dunham. Her brother is that guy on tv. Tahir Dunham." He waves a dismissive hand, it's not that importatnt. Frowning at the pair of them, "Forget the pants. I'm awesome regardless of pleats." But suddenly he doesn't like pleats. "She is my…" Oh shit. It's awkward label time. Not really sure what Samara is at the moment, he glances over his shoulder to her as if for help.. and then rapidly changes the subject. "Cardinal's my buddy. We're like a buddy cop movie. I'm always the black guy."
"You are in my room. These are all my rooms," Cardinal points out as a counter-response to the accusation of not using doors, hands lifting in a general wave of the sunglasses around the apartment, "I own the building. Also, if were going to go bang the brunette and didn't find a room that wasn't right next to our coma victim, I would feed you to the alligators." Does he really have alligators? He might. He's a man of many surprises.
"Besides. Using the door is against my religion. Hi. Good to meet you." A quick, tired smile's flickered over to Samara, and then he heads over to Delia, "…any change?"
A wry smile is shot towards Brian as he just moves past the label, drawing a shake of her head. Samara turns back to Cardinal, "I'm his poltergeist— and don't let him tell you otherwise. Even if you can see me now, every record labels me dead— so I figure I'm a figurative rather than a literal ghost." With a wrinkle of her nose she tilts her head and tacks on, "At least I'm friendly. I'm not like the poltergeist from Poltergeist you know…? Like no weird stuff. Just.. moving things. Kissing cheeks. Friendly things." Her hands are held up in the air to accent her point in a 'yay' position.
Her smile broadens, "I didn't say I didn't like the pleats, just that they went out. And I'm pretty sure I'm not in any position to judge anyone's clothes anyways. I mean, as you pointed out, I wore the same thing for four years… ew." She reddens considerably— cheeks, ears, and nose— at Cardinal's comment and, in one of the rare moments since she regained the ability to speak, is rendered momentarily speechless.
"She wouldn't mind." Brian jerks his chin over to Delia. "She could use some excitement in her life." Shoving his hands into his pockets, Brian falls in step with Cardinal. "Not much. Well when I say not much, I mean no. Not yet. I'm working on it. It's just taking longer than I expected. But.. Give me some more time, I'll have her out faster than you can say asshole, asshole." Smirking back over to Samara, Winters bobs his head a little. "This is my poltergeist. She was stuck being intangible four years. Gray brought her out of it. She can phase. I think she goes invisible as well as phasing." He glances over to Cardinal. "Which is technically better than you."
"But we have to work on the whole control thing. I figured I would practice with her a bit today before I pass out." All is said as if Samara isn't even in the room. "Anyways. Got a foot up on our bigot friends. Got a name and a rough description of an operative. He was trying to make a young closet-evo girl do a suicide bombing at the you-know-where." Chuckling a little at Samara's yay, he shoots her an apologetic look before falling out of line with Cardnial and going back to join her.
"And thank you Cardinal, but I will bang brunettes wherever I please." He smiles gently up at Samara, reaching up to cup her cheek briefly. The gesture isn't a very bang-y suggestive gesture, more affectionate than anything. Though the broadness of his smile and the glee on his features is maintained by her perpetual cherry-tomato face. "You got anything?" This much said to the man behind him.
"I'd like to see her absorb a nuclear explosion, if you think she's better than me," Cardinal murmurs as he checks on the various things hooked up to Delia's comatose body, though there's that subtle twist to his voice that shows that it's a joke of some sort. Him and Brian have a rather unique sense of humor when they're together.
A glance back to them, then, over his shoulder. "The Humanis cell in question's led by someone that goes by 'The Irishman'. He's using a demolitions team headed up by Keira Fionn - she's dating Deckard's boy - and one've the guys at the fights, the one that took on Griffin, name've Jason. I don't think they know that they're Humanis. They're slated to blow d'Sarthe's on Christmas Eve."
"I am still here," Sami objects lightly as her gaze moves between the pair of them only to fall on Delia. Her face hasn't lost its flush yet, and when Brian's hand cups her cheek, her own rises to his. "And I'm pretty sure I couldn't absorb a nuclear explosion, though I might be able to survive it." Presumably that's what happened last time right? Her nose wrinkles again while she cringes slightly, "— not that I'd want to try."
With a shrug she quips while shoving her hands into her pockets. "And like Brian said, I literally have no control. I was completely stuck. And then when someone tried to help me, they got stuck. So— maybe I'm destined to disappear using it if that's the case."
Biting her lip, Samara shakes her head while crossing her arms over her chest, "She actually mentioned Gideon d'Sarthe— and how Humanis First wanted her to target him— are they recruiting kids like her to do their dirty work? Get rid of two 'problems' at once…"
"The Irishman.. Like the Irishman?" This bring's Brian's hand from Samara's face as he's twirling around. "Our mole in the Shadows knows about him. Shadows want to take him out. They clashed with him the night of the riots." Brian's lips curl up into a light, yet excited smile. "This could be easier than we thought. And don't argue with me Sam. You're better." It's settled.
"Jason.." Brian nods a little bit. "I'll have our guys approach him. He was trying to get noticed. I think we might be able to get in touch." He nods in agreement with Samara. "That's what our girl said. Made it sound like a suicide bombing. Probably the same target? Lost this girl hired these other goons or…" He falls silent, furrowing his brow. "Fuck, Dickie. They're going to hire a bunch of different bombers and expect all these shit heads to get killed. I think it's safe to say that Jason and Keira aren't the only ones HF has hit up to do the job."
Brian goes to take a seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm going to try and use Anna as bait. Get in contact with this guy named 'Zach'. If I can convince him I'm on their side.. Or on their side enough. Maybe we can fuck up these plans a little bit." He glances up at Samara. "Did she say when she was supposed to do the thing, or did she know that much?"
"The plan was to blow the place during the gala," Cardinal says with a shake of his head, leaning back against the wall beside Delia's bed, one hand raising up to scratch through his hair, "That doesn't mean they're not going to change it, though, especially if they figure out that someone's on to them. I don't know how far I can trust Keira, she mentioned that the Irishman was like a father to her…"
He wrinkles his nose in a bit of a grimace, "She's always been pretty fuckin' loco too. Unpredictable. I was thinking of either talking to the LEO's or d'Sarthe - or both." He flashes over a smirk, "If we wanted, we could turn Christmas Eve into one hell of a party."
There's a swift shake of Sam's head, "I don't think she had that much information and she wasn't exactly forthcoming about it either. I imagine that they'll want lots of people around to make a very obvious statement." Her eyes glance up towards the ceiling, considering the situation quietly, "Like, if I was a terrorist," she holds up a single hand in a 'stop' motion, "Which I'm not— but if I was, I would go for the biggest targets I could. Big statements, you know?" She shrugs. "It only makes sense."
"You need to be careful using this Anna girl as bait," Sam shoots Brian a pointed look, "just remember she's a kid, okay? Crying in an alley by herself doesn't exactly paint the picture of strong young woman— like I know you're careful and you know what you're doing… just remember she's a kid— I'm not sure she wouldn't easily crack under pressure."
She presses her lips together in a hmmm motion, "I thought you were on the government radar. Won't Humanis First check your background or something?"
"Could use the gala as part of operation Shadows versus Humanis." He muses out loud, bringing a few fingers to his lips. Chewing on the tips of his fingers, he shakes his head idly to Sami. "I'm a rogue Company agent. Institute would probably know me. Want me. I mean not a high priority but if I was out on the side of the road.." He gives a shrug. "And besides I have a few fake IDs, some aliases with backgrounds and all that." Glancing over to Cardinal, he looks thoughtful at the other man.
"If Gideon's on the lookout… That could turn real bloody, real fast." Winters frowns, looking down at the ground for a moment. "We have to be thinking what will save the most lives and do the most damage to Humanis." Glancing over to Samara, Brian hums lightly. "Are you suggesting something, Sameye?"
"As far as I see it, we have three choices…" Cardinal's lips purse in a line, "…we can try and stop the entire thing before it gets off the ground, nail Humanis hard, maybe sic the Ghost Shadows on them. Or we can try and take care've all our birds with one stone at the gala, but that could lead to some serious loss of life."
A pause, "My suggestion would be to go tail Keira and slash or Jason, find the Irishman… and once we have the location, we tell the Ghost Shadows and d'Sarthe where it is. Let them fight it out there."
"I'm just saying that you don't exactly make a believable non-conspicuous contact for Anna." She shoves her hands back into her pockets. "I'm not on the grid, I look younger than I am— and could probably pass for sixteen or seventeen if I tried dressing a little more emo, and if I try hard enough I think I could fake bitterness about the November 8 stuff four years ago— it's not like I'd have no experience to draw on, just need to change the story around— " Samara shrugs slightly while her head tilts to the side and she rocks lightly on the balls of her feet. "I seem young and harmless enough to fly under the radar, and I basically don't exist anymore— and maybe it's a dumb idea, but," she shrugs.
"Although tailing them might be a better idea.. will these factions seriously fight it out?" her nose wrinkles again. "If there's a way to minimize the loss here, shouldn't we?"
"Still need to piss off the Shadows first. Make em want it. I was thinking this guy 'Zach' might be our key. He seems like an idiot trying to get a little girl to do a bombing for him, let her get away, didn't cover his bases at all. If I can find him, I bet we could play him." Brian looks up at Samara, gauging her for a long minute. Sizing her up, he chews down on his lip. "I was going to approach him as an associate. Put a little intimidation on him, make him feel like an idiot for losing his contact and clean up his mess for him… It was a long shot but…" He eyes her for a moment. "That might work. You could.. Yeah. Convince her to go back.. She could go back to Zach apologetic with your help." He rubs his chin lightly. "He might make you prove yourself. You sure you can do that?"
"You follow Keira, Cardinal. I'll track Jason. And if miss Sameye here can get in with Zach." He looks up at his poltergeist appraisingly. "You really think you're up to that?"
"Can do." Cardinal nods once, glancing between the pair, "Seems like we've got a plan. If all goes well, we can get three've our enemies all hitting each other at the same time… total win for us."
"I— " the proof part could be mildly problematic, there's little about the dancer that seems threatening, "— I can play naive or stupid like the best of them… hurting someone could be more difficult." She cringes slightly. "But then isn't that part of the appeal to them? Someone they think they can mold into their image who can easily adopt some radicalized version of reality..? And don't they just need someone willing to strap a bomb to themselves? If I needed to… I guess…" she frowns a little, "but in that innocence they won't suspect me being ill-willed towards them. I don't think…" There's a short pause as she tacks on, this time with a flicker of a smile, "I hope."
"You can play stupid really well." Brian says admiringly, one hand reaching out to claim Samara's hand again. "Then that's it. Cardinal goes after Keira. My guys go after Jason. Sam and I go after Zach." He looks back to Samara. "No way in fuck I'll let you do it alone. I'll be running support the whole time." He gives an affirmative nod.
"Looks like we have a plan team." Putting his hand out, he releases Samara's. His hand remains out, palm down. "Hands in, everybody."
Cardinal regards Brian for a moment, one brow arching slightly. "We are not," he points out, "A saturday morning cartoon."
When Brian holds her hand, Sami gives it a quick squeeze, silent appreciate for the support only strengthened by a broad grin, and a mouthed 'Thank you,' moments later. Despite Cardinal's skepticism, Samara's hand enters the 'pile'— that apparently consists of her and Brian— as she shoots Cardinal that same grin, "Awww. C'mon Richie! All the cool kids are doin' it! I should know— I'm fake seventeen!"
"Cardinal. You will put your god damned hand in this pile. You will join in on this team unison moment." Winters intones harshly. "Put your hand in." Brian demands, holding his hand out with Samara's on top of it still.
"You are such a fucking nerd," Cardinal mutters under his breath, his head shaking slowly from side to side as he steps forward, reaching out reluctantly to place his hand on top Samara's, "I draw the line at 'go team' though."