Images I Never Wanted In My Brain

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif elisabeth_icon.gif rebecca_icon.gif

Scene Title Images I Never Wanted In My Brain
Synopsis A discussion of current events takes a turn for the.. odd.
Date June 17, 2010

Residence of Elisabeth Harrison


She's finding FRONTLINE duties, while keeping her pretty busy, are starting to become more of a 9-to-5 sort of job at the moment (or at least and 8-to 7 one maybe). Which Elisabeth is grateful for — body detail sucks, and you can only really handle so much horribleness before you start to forget there's something beyond it. The past week, she's make a point of getting passes off the base on a regular basis; it requires carrying a pager, but she's fine with that idea if it means more freedom. In addition, what with all the extra hours the squads have been putting in during the weather crisis, the Shark has been realtively easygoing about giving leave time so long as too many people aren't off the base at the same time. So Liz is even managing nights at home here and there — she's begun settling into a kind of routine. And it's perhaps only now that Rebecca sees the other side of Elisabeth Harrison — the domesticated side that only peeks out once in a while at work (in the form of copious baked goods, a pleasure FRONTLINE has not partaken of as yet) or in front of very good friends. Rebecca apparently qualifies.

Having set the Asian woman at the breakfast bar with a glass of white wine, Elisabeth is standing at the counter on the other side of the bar rubbing herbs into a pork loin. And not dried herbs either! Fresh rosemary, sage, and garlic are being rubbed with olive oil into a bone-in pork roast — her hands are covered with the mixture as she makes sure to massage it beneath the skin of the roast and into the slits she's cut into the meat. A CD of classical music is playing softly in the living room, allowing the women to talk while Liz works, and as the blonde reaches up to rub her nose with the back of her wrist, she laughs at Rebecca. "Hate it when you get an itch when you're elbow-deep in meal prep."

In addition to the wine that's set in front of her, Rebecca is looking over a notebook, flipping through the pages that she's already hand written. There are some slightly skilled sketches and plenty of notetakings from her voyages out and about the city this week trying to come up with some explanation for the blackout that seemed to affect a good portion of the city. She saw life moving on until a single point in time when everything just went to hell. People fell, vehicles veered and life for some at that point was changed forever. Everything she witness was written into this notepad. Even with everything she witnessed, the one thing she did not witness in any of the flaskbacks were the reason for the blackouts.

Having documented everything she recalled, she closes the book and slides it away from her and sets her pencil on top and reaches for her glass of wine, pausing only to grin at Liz' comment. "When I was at NYPD, it was when I was elbows deep on someone's dead body." See? They do have something in comment. Itchy noses. Finally a drink and she sets the glass back down. She's not much of a drinker, even more so considering her past, but she knows she's around those she trusts to keep her in line. "Did you need any help with that?"

"Uh oh." Uh oh…

The words are spoken as Cardinal's shadow swirls through the kitchen, passing over the surface of the roast and Elisabeth's hand, brushing over the other bits of food and spices and assorted cooking implements in a spill of darkness, "You're cooking. Tell me that something isn't wrong, Liz…" The silhouette of a man finally pauses upon the front of the fridge, 'arms' folded across his 'chest' and head cocking a bit to one side. Hey. He usually only sees her enthusiastically cooking when there's something wrong.

"Nah, it's good. I just need to put it in the oven," Elisabeth says as she starts to turn toward the sink. Then the shadow makes his presence known and he slides into the kitchen and over her counters and her hands as if checking things. She follows the spill of darkness with her eyes, well used to his idiosyncrasies by now, and her expression reflects amusement. "That's actually not true. I bake when we're on the fast luge to Hell, love. I cook when I'm happy," she corrects mildly. "You can blame it all on my Grandmama. She didn't think there was a thing in life that couldn't be fixed with food." She shrugs a bit, completing the move to the sink so she can wash up her hands. "She was Italian, what do you expect?"

Cardinal's entrance is not something Rebecca is used to yet. She's been made aware of his ability and so it doesn't take her very long to connect the dots, but that first glance nearly spooked her. She shakes it off, however, and watches the two. It's like their married. Aww. Cute.

"Luge to hell. I guess that's a good way of putting it. Though I hope I can handle being around here with you making all this food. I haven't tested my metabolism in quite some time. I'm almost afraid it'll turn on me at some point." She takes another sip of wine.

"There's a difference between cooking and baking?" Ah, men. So ignorant about the important things. Richard Cardinal steps out from the shadow on the fridge, moving in behind Elisabeth and leaning over to peck a kiss to the side of her neck, drawing back then with a turn to offer an easy grin to Rebecca, "Hey. What, you been starving or something?"

Washing her hands off with deft movements, Elisabeth turns her face to rest her cheek against the side of his face when he kisses her, one hand coming up to cradle his cheek lightly. The novelty of being able to simply reach out and touch the man who's been nothing but a voice in her ear for months hasn't worn off yet — and apparently he feels the same, since he's been taking every opportunity even in front of people to be physical, even when it's merely the light brush of a hand as he passes her. "Yes, there's a difference," she informs him with a chuckle.

Slipping from his hands, Liz retrieves the pan and pops it into the stove, a bowl of potatoes sitting on top of the counter as she sets a timer for 20 minutes. Then she turns to face both of them, picking up her own wine glass for a sip. "Not to worry," she informs Rebecca. "I don't get to cook like this more than once a week or so — I do it because I enjoy it more than anything else, but … it makes me feel better to know that one's eating something better than Chinese take-out every night." Her chin jerks toward Cardinal with a grin as she says it. "I'm only here a couple nights a week right now, it seems like."

Shaking her head at Cardinal, "No, I just don't tend to eat very large meals. Though I imagine I may need to change my diet a little if I start working out more." Rebecca had asked Cardinal for some fighting help, which he's agreed to help her find someone to train her. She's actually started doing a little jogging on her own, and has begun a yoga class when she can find time to go. To Elisabeth, she gives a smile, "I'm just teasing you. Don't worry." She's been smiling alot more recently, mostly due to the banter between Cardinal and Elisabeth. She's happy that Liz has found someone who makes her happy.

"There's somebody I need to call about that," Cardinal gestures over at the mention of working out, walking along over to lean against the breakfast bar casually, plucking an apple up from where it's resting on a shelf, he tosses the fruit and regards it, "She might be willing to help you get in shape. Niki's cousin, actually— I forget if you've met Niki yet or not."

Elisabeth looks quietly between them, her brows popping upward. "Niki's cousin? Does Niki know she has a cousin in town?" Because the woman never really mentioned family to Liz… and Liz has a tendency these days to be suspicious and skeptical about people popping up out of the woodwork. Look at that Thalia woman!

Rebecca doesn't know Niki or her cousin, at least by that designation. So she's unsure who that it. Regardless, she's excited to get started. For one, she's hoping that if these visions are true, learning combatives and firearms might help her change the course of what she witnessed. She's not going to just wait for it to happen, that much she's determined.

At the skeptical look, Cardinal grins, "She's legit. She even has her own issue down in the 9th Wonder comics - those prophetic ones by Mendez? Technically, she's Niki's… cousin-in-law or something, she's related to Niki's ex-husband." A vague gesture with the apple, "She used to be with Phoenix, actually. Monica Dawson? Maybe you met her. Photographic reflexes."

With a frown, Elisabeth says, "The name's familiar, but I'm not sure I ever met her in person. I'll need to see a face to know for sure." Her memory deals better with face recognition than just a name. "But if you and Niki both are vouching for her and she's already been in with Phoenix, I'd say that's a safe enough association." She smiles faintly. "Cat's crazed about making sure she's got people background-checked." She looks at Becca and and says around a sip of wine, "Niki is someone you're going to see a reasonable bit, I do believe as we move into the next phase of our plans. She's intimately tied to the Rebel entity, and she's a known criminal — so when you see her don't freak. In addition, she suffers multiple personalities, and … well, quite frankly, Niki's not the one in charge most of the time right now. Jessica is. Until we take Linderman down, I think Jessica's going to remain the one in charge more often; they've got a very very big score to settle."

Rebecca has already finished most of her wine, which is probably about her limit as she stands, picking it up and walking over and rinsing it out and setting it in the sink. She leans against the counter. "Well, I'm not certain why I'd freak, but I won't." She shakes her head. "I think that as long as we all have the same goals, we should be just fine." She walks back over to the counter and picks up her notebook. "On that note, my inspection of each accident scene has yielded nothing. Even looking back and witnessing the incidents, there's nothing at all unusual going on in the immediate area that could be witnessed." She grips the notebook a little tigher. "That being said, it was the most surreal thing I've ever witnessed in my life." This from the woman how's seen murders in real time.

"Actually, I don't think she's currently wanted for anything… not by the police, right now," admits Cardinal with a shake of his head, "I think Linderman's people still have some issues with her for smashing up their building a bit, though…. but yeah, she's a little unstable, I'll give her that. I actually know Jessica a lot better than Niki herself— I can work with Jess, she's a professional." He tips his head to Rebecca, "By now, Monica's probably the most technically proficient fighter on the planet. I'm sure she could help you." He pauses, then, "Which accidents?"

When the timer dings, Elisabeth briefly turns to pull the roasting pan out of the oven once more and drop the potatoes in with the roast. Deftly sliding it back in, she resets the timer while she listens to them. She glances to Cardinal. "All the ones that occurred as a result of the blackouts," the blonde replies. And then she glances at Becca. "We know what caused them. The Institute grabbed a power augmentor and a man whose talent is to allow others to have pregonitive visions and jammed them together. I heard through the grapevine this morning that Joseph is actually safe — he's made contact, but no one has anything else to tell me. They've heard nothing on Gillian that I know of."

Listening to Liz, Rebecca nods. "I'm tracking all of that. I was hoping maybe that I could find something, anything that could lead us to the center most point of the blackouts. Unfortunately, there was nothing at any site to really help." Rebecca slips back into her seat at the table as the timer goes off and places her elbows on the table. "I'm not sure where to go from here at this point. This is way beyond me at this point. You'll have to let me know if you think I can help in any other way."

"I doubt that an epicenter would help much," Cardinal takes a bite out of the apple finally; chewing, swallowing, he closes his eyes, "I did pick up some information from Kershner. I've got the personal file of the Institute's director - guy named Broome. He was involved in Project Icarus, which was this lovely little Nazi program. Adam was there too. We might need to contact him to find out if he has any dirt on Broome."
A blonde brow quirks upward. "I find it….. disturbing that she'd go directly to you with such information, if you want the truth," Liz replies wryly. "I can't quite decide whether to view that as doing an end-run around the middleman or as a hopeful sign that she doesn't have a clue how deep in this shit I already am. The latter just doesn't make sense, though, and the former just … makes it all about me. So I'm going to merely ignore it," she decides.

Rebecca is starting to get a feel for some of the names that have come up repeatedly, though she doesn't know any of them by sight. She listens to the two discuss Kershner, she hasn't anything useful to add, so she mostly just retains the information begin talked about. She's just starting to realize just how much more complicated her life has become since tossing her hat in with this lot.

"Oh, she didn't," Cardinal murmurs around a bite of apple, "I broke into her apartment and sort of demanded that she tell me some things. She's got a pretty nice place. Also, I think she's a lesbian, which is a huge load off my mind, since she's damn hot, but I can't fuck her because of her power. Now I can just tell myself she doesn't like dick."

The bite of apple's swallowed, and he sets it down, his head shaking a little, "Got confirmation that the dee-oh-jay's all but ready to pull the plug on the Company. Vee manifested, by the way. She's an evo now."

Oh, no, he did not just say that. Elisabeth stares at Richard and seems to have nothing to say. Absolutely speechless for a long moment that becomes awkward. "The one doesn't necessarily preclude the other, but if that's what you have to tell yourself to make it okay not to fuck my boss, lover? By all means, you keep telling yourself that. Because I'll look the other way on your other paramours same as you do for me," she says drily, "but you fucking my boss will entirely fuck me over at some point down the road, so I'm thinking that is definitely one of those off limits things." She shudders in revulsion. "Christ…. now I have that image in my head and will have to ….. hell, I don't know, scrub out my head with fuckin' bleach." She downs the rest of her wine in one gulp and moves to refill the glass. Good Christ.

It takes several seconds before Liz registers the last bit of information. "Veronica's Evo? What?" She turns her head sharply to Cardinal. "Is she okay? How did she seem?" Because Vee did NOT like Evos. One on one she was starting to be okay, but …. "Shit."

There are several reactions to the last exchange that come over Rebecca Nakano. Granted, she's no prude, but there are certain things, she believes, that should be kept private. So when the subject turns rather personal, her cheeks begin to redden. She attempts to ignore it as best she can, but.. wow, warm in here now, isn't it?

As the conversation becomes more heated, so does Rebecca as more than just her cheeks begin to color and she reaches for her notebook and finds it suddenly the most interesting thing she could possibly find right now. He's practically burying her face in the pages as the conversation seems to veer away from.. yeah. Wine does sound really good right now. Maybe a double.

"I was joking," Cardinal bursts out laughing, his shoulders shaking just a bit in open humor, "Jeeze, woman…" A playful shove against her shoulder, and he leans over to check on the cooking, "…I wasn't kidding about the lesbian, part, though, I'm about sixty percent sure."

Leaning back, he looks seriously to Elisabeth, "Yeah, apparently she was latent… she seems pretty cool with it, though. She's a reflector, she bounces direct-use powers back on the wielder."

Thank you, GOD, Elisabeth thinks to herself. And she refills Rebecca's glass without being asked. "Jerk," she comments without rancor. "Don't mind us…. you're likely to find that being stuck as a shadow for six months has made Richard …. no, scratch that. He's always been a coarse bastard," she laughs. "Just ignore us when things get going. We both tend to forget that other people aren't as…. forthcoming about the facts as we can be." She smirks and glances at him. "It'll only take about another 45 minutes. And I'm glad Veronica's doing okay. I'll make a point of calling her. If the Company's goign belly-up, there are probably a few people who deserve a warning. And Veronica's one of them. If she can get the hell out before that happens, all the better."

Taking a hefty sip of the wine, which she should so not be drinking right now, Rebecca waves it off as no big deal. "It's fine. Really." Really. She's pretty sure there are some things that she doesn't not need to be privvy to. This is definitely not what she had in mind when she said 'full disclosure'. Most definitely not what she had in mind. She isn't sure if she knows Veronica, but the new of her manifesting bring to mind the time when she manifested herself just barely a year ago. The food smells good, however, and she's starting to get hungry. At least that's what her tummy is telling her.

"If I took life one hundred percent seriously, I would've eaten a bullet awhile ago, given everything that I know," Cardinal drawls out as he reaches up to open a cabinet, retrieving a glass and stepping over to offer it out in the direction of the wine bottle, "If I don't crack a crude joke now and then I'll turn into fucking Jensen. Who has kids, by the way. As for Vee, I already warned her. We had lunch today. She sends her best."

A wry smile's offered to Rebecca, "Sorry."
Elisabeth snickers and fills his as well, which empties the bottle. It's a good wine — four, maybe five glasses out of it is all you're going to get. And Elisabeth looks startled. "Raith? Jensen RAITH has kids? Well….. shit." She sets the empty bottle to the side and sips from the glass she still holds in her other hand thoughtfully. "I never saw that one coming," she admits. "Don't know the man well, but … " The smile that quirks one side of her mouth is rueful as she remembers in quick succession the image of the back of Raith's head on the chopper as they evacuated, flying away from a mushroom cloud of shadows, and every minute detail of his face in the moment he passed along the message from South America. She doesn't say anything else about it, merely moving to pull out three plates and accompanying silverware for dinner at the table.

"Mmhm." The wine glass is picked up, and Cardinal steps around the counter to head for the table, "Liette's one of his daughters, actually. I'm starting to think Edward was right…"

"…there is no such thing as coincidence."


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