Still Haunted

Participants:

elisabeth2_icon.gif katherine3_icon.gif

Scene Title Still Haunted
Synopsis Elisabeth is still haunted by her past when it comes alive again on the news.
Date June 29, 2010

Recreation Area


The news is on the recreation area. Elisabeth is standing in the middle of the seating area, stock still, staring at the screen as the horror of the bomb blast unfolds. Police are getting to the scene, people are bleeding, there is chaos and horror. And a banner that reads "Humanis First!" The blonde's face is stark white, her lips pulled into a tight line as she watches. The bottle of water in her hand is half-crushed — thankfully it was mostly empty.

Katherine has been nursing herself a headache for most of the day. Waking up with a bit of nausea and that headache, which she completely blames on two alcoholic beverages she had the night before that nearly wiped her out, she is just walking back in from training, which did not help her condition one bit. The one highlight was that she remembered who she met that night and it does cause her to smile. Kat doesn't often smile, but she is as she walks into the rec room and spots a ghost white Elisabeth Harrison looking at the television.

Walking closer, she stares at the screen and that smile fades. "Shit." As the news reports finish and they move on to something else, she gives Liz another glance. She does not look well at all. "What's wrong? Why do you look like that?"

It takes a moment for Liz to shake herself out of the frozen expression, and the shutters come down over her face, easing it into lines of pure cop-neutral. There is no neutrality in her blue eyes, though — those are pure …. rage. Horror. "Hey, Kat." She doesn't ask 'like what?' That would be stupid in the extreme. The fact that her hand is still shaking doesn't really do much to bolster the argument that nothing is wrong. "It caught me by surprise, that's all. I hate that shit."

Kat isn't one to press an issue, really. Not anything of a personal nature. There's definitely something going on with Liz and her reaction to what's on the television screen. "That just happened, it looks like. Maybe we should go check it out." She reaches up to rub at her temples again, "Unofficially, of course." She was going to crawl into bed and sleep for hours, but that can wait. "Beats sitting around here and watching television." She reaches for the remote and turns off the broadcast.

It probably isn't their jurisdiction, or anything close to that, but it wouldn't hurt to poke around down there. It's then she notices the shaking hand and she moves over to take a seat next to her and asks, "What is it?" Okay, now she's pressing.

Looking down as Kat sits in the seat near where she stands, Liz glances at her water bottle and realizes that she's shaking visibly. The effort to control it is evident, and she paces a little bit. Throwing the bottle into a nearby recycle bin, Elisabeth shoves her hands into her pockets. "Humanis First is … something of a hot button for me," she says quietly. "I was held by them for what I'm told is a period of several days and tortured." Her tone is neutral, even distanced, from the recitation, but it's clear that she's anything but. "Occasionally I have a flare-up of aftereffects. It happened earlier this week, and this on the heels of it isn't… great."

"Oh my God." Katherine really had no idea. How could she, really? Of course, simple word could probably never do justice when it comes to something like this. "I can imagine." She can't really, but she wishes she could. She stands back up and reaches up to run fingers through her own hair as that nagging little headache continues to be a pain in the ass. There's a part of her that wants to hear the story, but she's not quite regressed back to old Kat that much, who'd blatantly just ask for the story outright. "I'm sure you've talked to plenty, but if you need to again, I'm here." She looks over at the silent television, "If he hadn't blown himself up, I'd say kicking his ass would be theraputic."

Elisabeth's eyes return to the screen and she says quietly, "They never act alone. There's always at least two of them. Usually a team of two to four." She is quiet a moment. "They used to be run by a man called Danko. At least…. the cell I dealt with. He's ex-military, and he tended to send his teams out the same way a military commander would. Backed up." She shakes her head a little. "There were at least two — someone hung the banner while this bastard blew up a bunch of kids." Her throat closes over that. "I… I… Kat, I gotta get out of here. Cover with Kershner for me, will you?" There is a roll of nearly silent bass thrumming through the room and Elisabeth has a panicked expression as she starts moving toward the door. She's got to get the fuck out of this building. Away.

"I will." But she doesn't at all like the way Liz is bolting from here. She moves after her. "Wait. Where are you going?" There is actual concern in Katherine Marks' voice. "You're not going to do something stupid and get your ass in trouble, are you?" Wow, that would sound like 'old Kat'.

Kat's ever-so-familiar tones bring Elisabeth back around at the doorway, her anxiety clear in her face. "No…. No, I'm not. I'm g-g-g-going h-home." It's a struggle to force the stutter out of her speech. "I… Kat, I…" Her blue eyes flicker back to the screen, where they're running another report of Battery Park's carnage, and her jaw clenches. "They killed me. Or … damn near killed me. And I gave them… a safe house." Everyone breaks under torture. "A safe house full of kids." The expression on her face is one Kat's never, not in two lifetimes now, seen on Elisabeth — pure, abject misery. Tears sparkle in her eyes and there's another moment of panic when her hand flutters to her stomach, as if she's going to hurl. Sucking in a deep breath, her gaze comes back to the woman who has worked at her side in some of the grisliest scenes — "I have to go. I c-c-c-can't…. I just … I'll be back. Later." After she finds a way to quell the reaction.

There are things that Katherine has learned how to do all over again. There are things that Katherine has developed about herself that she never developed before. And there are most definitely things about Kat before that isn't a part of Kat now. Whether it's the rewiring of her brain that resulted in her memory loss or something else entirely is anyone's guess, but the gut reaction she has to reach out to grab Liz' hand and pull her back happens. Her aim is to pull that hurting woman into a hug. Whether that is achieved or not, the words that follow are all from a familiar past, "Whatever you do, Harrision, wherever you go, don't you let them win. Don't let them turn you into a goddamn coward. Whatever it is I know about you is from my gut, rather than my memory, and my gut tells me that you are far stronger than you give yourself credit for. Go if you have to, but don't you let those bastards beat you."

The movement startles Elisabeth — deeply. She is caught and held in that hug before she fully realizes that it's what Kat intends. She's stiff in the hold, but as Kat speaks there is a softening of her posture and one arm awkwardly comes back around Katherine's back to hold loosely. "I won't," she whispers. The nightmares are what they are, but the blonde hasn't given in to them yet… but there are times…. "Strategic retreat, that's all Marks," she says, her arm suddenly tightening into a desperate hug on the other woman. "I just need to not be here to regroup. I'll be back later this afternoon." She's not exactly calming, but something in this interaction has given her back some control, too. Disengaging herself, she murmurs, "I'll be back," one more time before she disappears out the door.

Katherine stands there watching her leave, staring at the door for a long time until someone else steps through and stands, pausing to look at Kat, "You okay there?" Snapping out of her thoughts, Katherine nods. "Perfect." She slips out of the room, heading to her own.


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