Misplacing the Faith

Participants:

abby2_icon.gif eileen_icon.gif

Scene Title Misplacing the Faith
Synopsis Eileen drops by Old Lucy's to discuss a few brief matters with Abigail and receives a key in exchange.
Date May 6, 2009

Old Lucy's


Nocturnal schedules are the easiest for fugitives to keep if avoiding authorities is their top priority — lately Eileen has been shirking the sun, laying low during the day and travelling between safehouses by night when she's the least likely to get caught out in the open, so when she slips in through the back door without any advanced warning she's mindful not to make too much noise or draw unwanted attention to her appearance.

Old Lucy's isn't the best place to be hiding, not when the bar's frequent customers include men like Felix Ivanov, but it beats most of the local alternatives if only because she remains on good terms with its present caretaker. Abigail's too nice to kick her out, or if she isn't it won't be at the other end of a double-barrel shotgun.

She hopes.

Eileen's always in Abby's good books. Frankly, there's very few people in her bad books. That's reserved for a very special few. Abigail's behind the Bar and it's a busy night or was a busy night, it's dying down as people are gearing up to take their leave. So when the back door opens and disgorges it's passenger and only a few people have access or think to use that door, Abigail's glancing over in case it's Teo or someone else. Nope, it's Eileen. "Hey Brenda, Tell Natalie I'll be in the back. I'll lock up tonight" There's a gesture towards Eileen for her to come into the back, out of the view of other people.

She doesn't limp so much as she slinks, sinuous, past the bar and into the room specified by Abigail's signaling. Eileen makes no eye contact with any of the other patrons along the way, one gloved hand fishing for a book of strike anywhere matches in her jacket pocket while the other rolls a cigarette between forefinger and thumb. A moment later, she's flicking one of the colourful phosphorous heads against the doorframe as she steps through it, resulting in a brilliant flare of heat and light that she uses ignite the very tip of her cancer stick, now dangling from the corner of her mouth. "Thanks."

"No problem Eileen" Once they're inside, and no one seems alerted that a supposedly dangerous terrorist has entered into the back room of Old Lucy's. Which has frankly has hosted far more than Abby could ever fathom have been in the back room. "You look like hell Eileen" The redhead murmurs. "Need something to eat or drink? No charge" That goes without saying.

The spent match drops to the floor, crushed under the toe of Eileen's boot just to be safe. She gives a quick shake of her head, sending ripples through her hair, and pries the cigarette from her pursed lips just long enough to spit out an errant flake of tobacco that had somehow lodged itself between her teeth. Then she's sucking at it again with the quiet enthusiasm of an infant gumming its favourite pacifier a toddler mouthing its thumb.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume she's feeling much the same as she looks. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be attempting to derive oral gratification from something she knows is bad for her. "I wanted to ask if you'd spoken to Teo," she grumbles around the cigarette's paper filter, "seen Sylar?"

"I talked to both" Abigail answers, taking up a seat. "Someone did a number on Sylar. Took about two days to fix him. Don't think he much cares that I had to do it, or maybe he just had other things on her mind" Nope, they hadn't mentioned Eileen and Sonny had moved the wounds so Abigail couldn't put two and two together. "Teo's busy with other stuff right now. Eileen, lemme get you something to eat. Or I can have one of my swamp sludges made for you. It's just fruits blended together but, you look like crap"

"Second time you've said as much in as many minutes." There's a prickly sort of defensiveness worming around just beneath the surface of Eileen's tone, making her sound a little more dubious and cavalier than she probably intends to. The other woman's claim to have spoken with both Sylar and Laudani raises both her dark eyebrows, incredulity spiking at the very top of their expressive curves. "Really," she says. "I'm fine. They didn't say who?"

"Nobody tells me anything Eileen. That way I can't tell anything to anyone else if I get hauled in and ask who I've healed and where" The redhead pulls up a seat, not caring that the other is smoking. "And sorry just…" She is, and the worry on the healers face is very evident. "Sylar didn't talk much to me, and Teo just made sure that I had a place to sleep and what I needed to heal Sylar. Beyond that…" They didn't mention that it was Eileen or how. "You need some healing?"

Asking Eileen if she needs some healing is like asking an emaciated stray if it wants a bowl of water in ninety-degree weather. The dark circles under her eyes are unusually pronounced, and her complexion's ashen shade makes her skin look like she's covered in a few flimsy layers of wet tissue paper. Combine this with the bruising along the swanlike line of her neck and the series of injection marks partially obscured by the contusions, and all signs point to her having had a very rough go of it. "You can't."

"I can Eileen. it's not like you're.." that name that Abby won't say because names have power and invoke emotions. Abigail offers her hand out to Eileen. Though it's two seconds into doing it that she stops. "Oh lord…" Eyes suddenly going wide. She didn't think of it. Of Joseph's god induced vision. "What's happened?"

Eileen looks down at Abigail's hand, the expression on her face hovering somewhere between sympathy and loathing. "You can't," she repeats, "that's all. I'd hurt you if you tried." Like she hurt Ivanov, Sylar. The memory of Gabriel's brown eyes staring up at her, pooling with fear, desperation and hurt as he begged Eileen not to leave him draws a raspy snort from her nostrils, another shake of her head. She has no desire to repeat that, not with him, not with anyone. "Listen, maybe be careful, okay? Sylar's lost his abilities, and there are too many people counting on you for you to lose yours. There's someone calling himself John. Not Logan. He'll pull everything you are right out."

"He'll.. take my faith and replace it with something else?" Abigail studies Eileen carefully, a little shocked. "So it was… you who hurt Ivanov?" There's no accusation or scorn or dislike. Little bit of surprise. "He come at you again? Eileen.. can I try? I'll stop right away if it doesn't feel right, I promise. If I can't we'll.. how badly are you hurt?"

"Not badly enough." Eileen blows out foggy tendrils of smoke through her nose, an irritated glance shot the healer's way. "Listen to what I'm telling you. I've been like this long enough to know what will happen if you try. You saved me once, let's leave it at that."

"Okay. I trust you" The redhead answers, hand taken back. "I saw this. Someone gave me a glimpse of the future. You were on the floor and cringing away from me telling me not to touch you" Abigail rises from her seat, heading to her locker to open it. Grab a bottle of water from inside that was half drunk and an energy bar. The latter offered towards the other woman. "You came to warn me about someone named John maybe making a run for me?"

"I came to ask you if you knew anything about Sylar," Eileen corrects Abigail in a much gentler voice than the gravelly hiss she was using a few moments ago. "And to make sure Teo left him with the right people." Which he obviously did, if the erstwhile serial killer and timepiece repairman is still— ticking. She takes the energy bar but does not tear at its wrapper, pocketing it along with her matchbook instead. As for John, "Stay away from people you don't know until Teo's people can get this sorted out. It's not worth the risk."

"I can do that Eileen. I live like two feet from here, go to church another two feet from here. The security on my building is fairly disgusting, in the good sense" The ponytail bobs as she nods to the other woman. "He's better, little strange, for him to have Gillians ability, and he Kinda.. lost control of it a few times" There's a flush rising to the redheads cheeks. "But he was up and around last I know. I haven't heard from them since saturday. Teo I heard from yesterday but nothing bad, he was just checking in" Stay away from strangers. She can do that. "Thank you, for letting me know. is there anything I can do for you? Do you need some money? I got 60 dollars in my wallet" because Eileen doesn't exactly have a steady job.

She'd been about to ask who Abigail has been speaking with about grim prophecies coming to pass, but the question is lost on the tip of her tongue the instant she mentions Gillian. Or, more accurately: Gillian's ability. What little hint of pink there is in Eileen's cheeks drains away, cold and clammy, slick with sweat. She removes the cigarette from her mouth, holds it several inches away from her face so the healer is no longer shrouded in a silver veil of smog. "You're sure?" she asks. Not about the money.

"I healgasm'd, Eileen. I only ever did it near Gillian, and even then… he said something about how it was so easy for her and for me with our abilities" Not that Abby minds the smoke, the bar out the door smells like smoke all the time.

"Healgasm'd," Eileen repeats, fixing Abigail with a very pointed look that somehow manages to convey apology in addition to an implicit accusation. I'm sorry, it says, icy and brittle, frostiness seeming to glaze over her grayish eyes. I don't think I heard you correctly?

"You know.. that.. thing.." She can't even meet Eileen's eyes when she's trying to explain it. "Just take, you know, the tingling.. and the warmth but like.. a tho.. thousand fold and .. it.." She's embarrassed, mortally embarrassed.

Eileen's fingers pinch the bridge of her nose and her eyes squeeze shut. She was better off not asking. Really. "Never mind," she bites off, perhaps to spare Abigail the embarrassment, or perhaps to spare herself the mental image and the needleprick of jealousy she can feel it poking her with. "It doesn't matter. Who told you this was going to happen to me, and where can I find them?"

There's no need for jealousy, it's not as if either party derived pleasure from it. It's just one of those things that… happens. "Pastor Sumter, guiding light church. It's a couple blocks away. Just tell him I sent you. He's very nice, he can show you a glimpse of god's plan. He can't see it or hear it himself, but he'll hold your hand and he'll show you" Thank you Eileen, for not asking for more information on the whole … yeah, well. It's not like she does it on purpose. Her cheeks are still lobster colored. "If you need anything Eileen, just, come here. If you need food or whatever. Brenda can let you in or " She turns to her locker, filching her keyring and after a moment or tow, offers up a key. 'For Isabelle's place upstairs. If you can get to the roof, that'll get you in"

Pastor Sumpter. Guiding Light Church. Both pieces of information are easy enough to commit to memory, filed away for later when other needs aren't so immediately pressing. Eileen closes her gloved hand around the key, palming it, and then slips it into the same pocket her matchbook and energy bar had disappeared. "Do yourself favour and don't let Teo know I have this," she says. "You might not want to tell him I was here, either. Sylar too."

"No one will know you have it Eileen. I can keep secrets" Abigail swallows, watching the other girl. "Don't tell them what happened,w hat happens when I've touched Gillian, or Sylar. No one else knows. I'd rather they didn't either. Your the only one. It.. it's a little awkward"

"I won't," Eileen says, and she's probably telling the truth. There's very little to be gained by lying, as manipulative as Gabriel asserts her to be. "You've my word."


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