My Tax Dollars At Work

Participants:

elisabeth_icon.gif katherine_icon.gif

Scene Title My Tax Dollars At Work
Synopsis Homeland Security agents are going to be partnering up with SCOUT…. great!
Date February 3, 2009

Police HQ, SCOUT Squad Room


Oh the morning's off to a *great* start. Will Harvard's in a pissy mood — hell, all of the SCOUT operatives are stretched FAR too thin and exhausted. The past week has been hell on Earth …. maybe not QUITE as bad as the aftermath of the Bomb in some ways, but worse in others. But Harvard's mood comes from being piled on with Feds. That's enough to make any local cop pissy. And we've been given little warning that the Fed squad is descending. Elisabeth Harrison comes in wearing not the black uniform she's been in all week but sturdy brown pants and boots, a button-down top, and her black NYPD winter coat. Her gun hangs at her hip, her badge on the other side of her belt, and her blonde hair caught back in a clip at the nape of her neck. She looks…. well, like everyone else: weary, stressed, like she's living on caffeine — which she carries into the SCOUT squad room with her, a great big cup of coffee. She had been hoping to catch her partner, but that's been a hit-and-miss (a lot of miss) proposition this week too. She grabs the phone on her desk as she reaches it, setting her cup down to rub her forehead and listen intently. Thanking the person on the other end, she hangs up and just stands there for a long moment, lost in thought.

She walks in and almost immediately the confidence level of the room increases. She chats briefly with a desk sergeant before he points towards the negotiator. Katherine Marks turns and strides directly — or as directly as possible in the sea of desks — towards her. She waits for the phone call to finish before clearing her throat. "I was told you were working the incident from yesterday over at the trailer park. Katherine Marks, Homeland Security." Kat is currently decked out, courtesy of The Company, in a very nice dark grey suit. She wears a white blouse, with the grey jacket over the top and grey slacks. Attached to her pocket is her ID that states she's a member of HomeSec. The brunette agent offers her hand, as her eyes scrutinize the other female from behind her rectangular rimmed glasses.

Turning to look at the woman standing in front of her, Elisabeth studies the agent with a critical eye. She takes the proffered hand in a firm handshake — not one of those dominance things men do — and nods. "Elisabeth Harrison. What can I help you with, Agent Marks?" Cuz there are feds crawling all OVER the damn place. Liz has no idea if this one's staying or not.

Kat is rather observant as she takes her time to glance around the room, looking for any information she can gather. She turns her gaze back to the negotiator, releasing the hand from the equally firm shake. She makes a sound with her throat, an acknowledgment of sorts. "I need copies of your paperwork. I've been assigned to investigate. On my own, of course, not necessarily as part of your team. We want to make sure that this incident isn't more than what it appeared to be."

The desks in this room don't generally seem to sport much of anything in the way of personal effects, unless coffee cups and such count. The officers who work this room don't tend to be here much, after all. "Sure," Liz replies, forcing a bright smile for the agent. "I love seeing my taxpayer dollars at work." Yeah… she in a foul mood this week. She turns to her desk and drops into her seat, pulling up the report on the computer and sending it to the printer in the corner of the room. "It's wonderful that Homeland Security uses their taxpayer-funded resources to investigate attacks on cops. I love that. I feel much safer." She shakes her head and looks up. "Anything else you need from me on it, Agent? Cuz I do so *love* to have someone looking over my shoulder," she says cheerfully.

The 'outburst', as unsubtle as it was, doesn't seem to phase the cool Kat, who takes it all with a smirk on her face. "Cops, I'm not so much worried about. It's the citizens who aren't armed and cannot defend themselves that I'm concerned about." Sure, that's the what they're supposed to say, right? "Besides, with everything that is going on, I would think that the more bodies applied to the case, the more thorough an investigation that can occur. Isn't that right?" She follows to the desk. "Unless you like being understaffed and overworked."

Elisabeth pffts. "*That's* a perpetual state of affairs," she ripostes. And then she grins faintly, moving to get up and go pick up the report. "It was a friggin' train wreck," she says as she hands over the paperwork. "The main problem in the area was the fuckin' sniper."

Kat takes the paperwork. She leans against the desk as she flips through the jacket, scanning through each page for information she may not have already gathered. "We heard about the sniper. He was one of the reasons we got involved." That and the evolved female who cast some sort of shadow. But, there's no need to mention that now. She pushes her glasses up higher on her face and glances around. "Copy machine somewhere? I'll just make my own copies, so you can have keep your files." She continues to turn page after page. "Any additional leads, anyone connected who might not have been at the scene?"

Elisabeth gives Katherine a skeptical look. "I already have a copy for my files, thanks. Computers and all that." She picks up her coffee cup, looking not the least defensive. If the Homeland agent wants to take a riot investigation off her hands, hey… more power to her. Liz has plenty to do. "From speaking with witnesses last night — and from being on the STREETS this week — I can tell you that most of the problem appears to have been essentially the same problems we're facing all over. People are scared, they're desperate, the rolling power outages have them on edge, and the rumors that it was an Evolved terrorist attack has them walking a razor's edge of paranoia. Emotions are too high and too much is going on to expect the herd mentality to work in our favor. As for leads? Aside from working on locating the sniper who took down the chopper, no… so far I don't have anything else to go on. Why? Something you're not telling me about a simple riot?"

Really, Kat has no interest at all in the riot. Her interest remains on the evolved that they are not yet tracking. She closes the file and tucks it under her arm. "Nothing substantial. We are looking at a few things, but for the most part we're not convinced about there is a terroist cell just yet. Of course, with evolved anything can happen. Especially if you get one who isn't stable." She tilts her head, her brown hair falling to the side as she considers for a moment. "However, we might have something on your sniper." She pulls a photo from her pocket, and lays it on the desk. "Have you seen this man before?" The picture could or could not be the sniper. It's just one of a many random pictures she carries in her pocket. "We believe he is either the sniper, or he is somehow involved with the sniper."

Elisabeth moves to pick up the head shot, studying it intently. "Nope…. not ringing any bells. Of course, last night he could have stood right next to me and I might not have seen him in that madhouse," she says as she looks up at the agent. "I had my hands full evacuating four small kids who'd been hiding between two of the burning trailers. I'll keep my eyes open. Show it around if you want."

Kat waves off the picture. "Extra copy. You can hold on to it. Ask around if you like. I'm sure you are more familiar with those in this district than I am." She reaches into her pocket again and pulls out a HomeSec business card. It has her name on it, but she uses her ability to manipulate the numbers on the card to match the disposable phone she picked up for this assignment before handing it over. "If you get any other leads, I'd appreciate a call. And I'll do likewise, if you want to give me one of your cards."

Elisabeth glances at the card almost dismissively. "Sure," she replies. Not that she'll call it most likely. But she moves to grab one of her own cards to hand back to the agent. "Frankly, I don't see much here that warrants Homeland's interest, but knock yourself out. It's one less case I have to pay that close of an attention to."

The agent takes the card and pushes off the desk. "Well, once we determine that we're not warranted, we'll back off. Just.. rumors, you know. Need to check them out." She starts for the exit, turning back briefly. "I'll be on touch." Katherine does wait for any response, but slips out the door. She slips into her car and flips through the folder, before pulling out a single piece of paper. She tosses the rest into the back seat. Seems that /this/ is just what she was looking for. She starts the vehicle and drives off.


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February 3rd: There Is Also Beauty
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February 3rd: Southern Comfort
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