Target On Her Back

Participants:

bf_kaylee_icon.gif bf_magnes_icon.gif

Scene Title Target On Her Back
Synopsis In the morning media madness after the release of damning video evidence, a couple of officers discuss how their lives are entangled with the dark situation.
Date September 12, 2015

NYPD Precinct Station


The morning had come with the news that Pinehearst wasn’t that bright shining beacon everyone had thought it was. Footage proved that. The footage Tamara had risked her life for. It had taken time to find someone within the NYPD that she could trust to pass it too. It had taken far too long.

But finally, there it was. It was out there. Kaylee had watched the Special News Report that morning while she sipped at a cup of coffee and Jojo lounged on her lap. There was a small smug smile as she watched it. It took effort not to feel a twist of guilt for Luther, pushing it down she reminded herself this was for the best. He was just as bad as the rest of them.

A part of her also hoped she’d get a chance to see him brought in.

Fingers had brushed the moisture from the corner of her eyes. If she was so determined to put him back in jail, why did that keep happening?

The mention of the source being from the NYPD, it pulls her attention, with a sharp turn of her head.. “Fuck.” Kaylee half-whispered out loud. She had hoped that part would have kept quiet. Unfortunately, that news would make for a smaller search area for the source and who knows how many of Petrelli’s people worked at the NYPD. She only knew of a few good ones. Diaz for sure, but she was pretty sure Varlane too. They all had a target on their backs now.

But she wasn’t going to let that stop her from going to work.

When she steps into the precinct, with typical mocha in her hand, the news was up everywhere. Groups gathered around each set talking softly together. The big question, what would be the next move for them? Would there be a round-up of Pinehearst folks? Task Forces to take on the tougher ones? So far, it seemed like the answer was No.

Detective Thatcher felt like every eye was turning towards her as soon as she walked in the door. It was no secret that she had it out for Pinehearst. Especially, ever since she forced them to let her reopen the bombing case — driven by her obsession to bring in Luther — which had brought a lot of attention to her. It meant she had a giant target on her back, especially, when they start putting two and two together about her roadtrip with friends.

Blue eyes dart from person to person offering a faux pleasant smile to each cop and detective that was looking at her. “Morning Officer,” she offers to Varlane pleasantly, before taking a sip of her mocha, using that to watch the people around her. “Interesting morning, hmm?”

Magnes is sitting at a desk doing paperwork, his hair much shorter and neater than the other Magnes she saw not long ago. "I can't even be surprised that a large corporation is shady and corrupt. I'm just a little worried about some things…"

He looks around, and then looks over at her, admitting, "My girlfriend works at Pinehearst. She never really talks about what she does there, so I don't really know what to do other than try my best to talk to her about it. I'm worried."

"There's some part of me thinking, like…" He rubs the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "What if she's involved in all of the corruption?"

This was actually news to Kaylee, the surprise gets a little choke and a cough. It hits a little too close to home. Brushing her sleeve across her lips, she studies the officer curious. “Does she now?” Glancing around her mentally, Kaylee grabs a nearby chair and drags it close to where he is sitting. “Funny enough, my Ex works there, too.” There is a bitterness to that statement, even after a year.

Setting her mocha down on the desk, Kaylee asks curiously, “What’s her job? Luther cleaned up messes for Pinehearst.”

"She always says boring office work. She's very vague, I think that's why I'm concerned." Magnes groans, suddenly thumping his head against the desk a few times, before he looks up at her. "I finally date the hottest girl humanly possible, who is also infinitely nice and interesting, and she might possibly be evil."

Resting his chin in his hand, he admits, "Before I met her, I had a thing for you, you know, before I was even a cop. I should have stuck with that, guaranteed not evil."

"But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sure there's perfectly innocent people who work for Pinehearst." he imagines, possibly, maybe.

It was sounding more and more like her situation, which bring a twist of sympathy. “Unfortunately, I can’t say that. Luther told me he was a janitor, but he was actually one of the corrupted guys.” Kaylee stops herself short of telling him what he really was. Too many cases, depended on it. “Which is why he’s an Ex. Not that I am ready to ever get back into the dating pool.” Her nose scrunches up at the thought of trying to get back out there,

Her eyes stare at her coffee cup and turns it idly in thought. “But, no. Don’t get ahead of yourself. She is probably just fine.” A reassuring smile is offer. “From what I understand they do a lot of secret work, maybe she just wasn’t able to talk about it.”

"Guess I'll just have to talk to her. Maybe if she is kind of evil I can talk her into going down a better path or something. I mean, it's not like she's an assassin or something, I couldn't imagine her hurting anyone." Magnes takes a sip of coffee, smiling. "I just want my life to stay kind of simple, hanging out with Gabriel and Eileen and stuff."

Leaning back in her chair, Kaylee cranes her neck to see one of the TVs with special report streaming across it in bold red. “I’d just be careful when talking to her, Varlane. Nothing is going to stay simple after all that coming out.” A smile tugs over to one side, as she adds. “Bad enough someone in the department is going to have a giant target on their back, don’t want you to end up with one too, cause you say the wrong thing.”

In a way, it was weird talking to yet another Magnes. “Who’d talk to me if something happened to you, huh?” It is a tease really, since there was Detective Diaz, too.

"I'll be fine, I grew out of my trying to save the world phase a long time ago. I like this being a cop, having a hot girlfriend and owning a business phase way more." Magnes looks around for a few moments, then shakes his head at Kaylee. "You're a good person, and anyone who can't appreciate that doesn't deserve to talk to you anyway."

With everyone at the precinct wondering who was the leak, speculations fly. Questions do as well. Leadership is looked to for guidance. And suspicions slide beneath it all like a dark undercurrent threatening to pull down the innocent. Diaz and Sanders, a couple of detectives within similar fields of investigations, enter from the direction of the break room. "I mean Jesus H, how high up does that shit show go," Sanders, the rookie detective recently commended for a collar of a Humanis First member within a larger conspiracy of murdering a bunch of Evolved and Evo-sympathizing citizens, speaks animatedly to the much taller and balder detective beside him.

Both detectives greet the other pair pleasantly, though Sanders comes off as more enthusiastic. "You both see that?" he gestures to the mounted television screen playing out the endless news cycle's bombshell report. "I heard from Hodges that this is going up all the way. Chief's going to want a lot of flies on this pile."

The comment prompts Diaz to groan, scrubbing a hand on his jaw. The more senior of the pair, he already anticipates the amount of trouble this will bring. And the paperwork. God, the paperwork. "Don't say that, Sanders. I'll be lucky to come out of this without carpal tunnel. With the amount of typing we're about to have to do? Ugh." His disgusted tone is just mock-frustration. Diaz casts a glance to the screen as well, but looks back over to Kaylee and Magnes after a moment. A longer part of that glance lingers on the detective rather than the officer. Recent events certainly have made lives interesting. And not in the good ways.

The detective can’t help but chuckle, reaching over to lightly bump other’s shoulder with her fist, “Thanks, Varlane. You ain’t bad yourself. For what it is worth I hope she is one of the good ones.” The action, turns her chair in the direction of the other approaching detectives. The fact that she is smiling is a good thing, cause it means that she is finally showing signs of recovering from the broken heart dealt to her a little under a year ago.

“Diaz, Sanders,” Kaylee greets the pair, swinging her chair back around to look at the screen. “Crazy, huh? Any ideas of who the leak was?” It’s a casual question, she only just got here herself. “Captain is probably out for blood on that one.”

"While I don't really think it's good to leak things and compromise potential investigations, I'm not necessarily against the leaker either. It's a complicated situation, so I'm not really sure what my opinion is." Magnes crosses his arms and leans back in his chair, nodding to the two detectives. "I'm definitely not the leaker, especially since this might possibly be the end of my super hot girlfriend if she turns out to be the evil underbelly of Pinehearst."

“Hope who’s one of the good ones?” Diaz has some sharp hearing, and he’s not even someone with any ability. The detective came up from the ground floor, those having been in the force long enough would know. But he can also be a bit of a gossip mongerer. He blames his mother’s side for that.

Sanders flumps into his own desk chair, propping feet up on the trashcan beneath his desk. He’s not watching the television screen quite as much, but paying attention to the conversation amongst the fellow officers. The rookie detective cuts a glance back to Magnes, and brows lift as he bites back a laugh. “Wait, wait, you just said…” He snorts and covers the laugh with a cleared throat and fist over mouth.

Diaz’s dark eyes shine with humor. “They’ve got a pill for that, Varlane. You know?”

“Or your girlfriend’s into some kinky diaper play,” Sanders adds, unable to keep it to himself.

“Sanders. Come on, man.” Diaz shoots the other rookie detective a crossed the line look. The senior detective then checks a second glance over to Magnes, a slight shrug of his shoulders offered as apology. He’s not here to yuck anyone’s yum amongst consenting adults.

A flat look is given to both men by the female detective. “Come on guys, leave him alone. I mean really.” A look specifically goes to Sanders, “Detective. You’re lucky I am not easily offended, cause… Wow.” Kaylee’s head shakes slowly. “HR would be breathing down your neck so fast. Make your head spin. Especially, if Bernard heard you.” Her head tilts toward the Desk Sergeant, one of the older offers. She was set to retire in a few years.

“And Varlane, Don't worry.” Picking up her coffee cup, Kaylee lift it to toast him with it. “I imagine there were a lot of Pinehearst employees that didn't know all this was going down under their noses.” There is a moment that she looks like she might say more, but stops herself. Instead she gives him a smile. “I doubt all their employees agree with what all was going on under that shiny exterior.”

It wasn't a secret that she had been continuing the investigation on the bombing. It was like she had a vendetta or something.

"Whoa…" Magnes doesn't know how to respond, so he lets Kaylee respond, and rubs the back of his neck. "My girlfriend is very wholesome and normal. I should probably introduce people to her once I confirm her lack of being evil and such."

"I guess I have a type, really. I'm always drawn to the normal conservative types, even though I'm very…" He flails his arms around for a moment, as if that explains literally anything at all.

Holding his hands up at the assault of looks and chidings, Sanders relents but doesn’t backpedal. The desk sergeant down the way gets a short, worried glance from the rookie detective as if testing to see if the older sergeant had heard. But, he seems to be in the clear. For now.

Diaz eases into his chair upon getting that flat look from Kaylee, and glances back to Magnes with a humored, “Let your fellow officers be the judge. Or, you know, don’t. Who’s your girl and what’s she do?” He leans in, a definite curious air to the sharp, dark gaze. It’s one that cuts over to Kaylee briefly, a brow arching at the other detective.

“Do we know that the info leaked didn’t come from the inside?” Much like the majority of the department, Diaz isn’t a stranger to the idea that if anyone had been courting trouble, it was Detective Thatcher looking into the Pinehearst bombing, still. But it is also no secret that the subject is touchy, with the blame squarely placed on evidence that Humanis First was responsible for the deed. Though the organization hadn’t denied its involvement, and in fact also claimed it as a deed done by actors sympathetic to their cause, there were still blanks and questions to be answered.

Varlane gets a grin for his rather comical display. It was an interesting way to describe the man. “Well, if anything… they do say that opposites attract.” Including cops and criminals. “So don’t think too hard on it and enjoy the ride.”

“I doubt the media would say it was someone in the PD, if it wasn’t true,” Kaylee answers Diaz, adding a slow shrug. Even though the leak was the woman in front of them, she wouldn’t give up her own source. “Even if there was an external source, a good cop wouldn’t give it up. No doubt there is a significant amount of risk that goes with footage like that.”

Swinging her chair around she focuses on the TV again, brows furrowing again in thought. Under that mask there is a growing anxiety for Tamara and Colette now that the information is out. “I would be curious to see how Pinehearst is going to approach this.” A small smile ticks up at one corner of her mouth.

"She's never really clear on what she does. She says she does boring office work." Magnes shrugs, and sits back, considering. "If she is evil, maybe I can reform her. Eileen reformed, if Eileen can reform anyone can!"

That seems like solid logic, possibly.

"Pissing on Pinehearst's game takes some serious balls," Sanders remarks from his position at the desk, expression suddenly serious as he looks back to the headlines crawling across the ticker tape announcing investigations underway into the activities of Pinehearst and government involvement, and human rights violations in Moab. He aims a smile at Kaylee, her words getting a proud smile from the man. "Gotta protect that blue line," he concurs, starting to put his feet up on the desk then thinking better of it given the present company.

Diaz only eyes Magnes for the comment about his girlfriend's job at the current company under fire, then it's back to Kaylee. The detective has his reservations about the situation, and about Magnes' claims on reforming evil, but appears to keep it to himself. "There's going to be a helluva lot of paperwork," is what the man comments as he slowly rises from his seat again. Thus reminded, and thus trying to avoid those piles of paper. "I think I'm going to grab a coffee. Any of you want?" It's not necessarily that he needs the company, but it's only polite to offer.

There is a bit of a lopsided smile at Sander’s comment. “Or just complete stupid,” Kaylee supplies as an alternative. Taking on the big bad wolf was probably not the smartest move, but she knows it was the right move.

Sipping her coffee, Kaylee grimaces finding it cold. There is a touch of disappointment at that discovery, so Diaz’s offer gets a small nod. “Yeah, I’ll come with you. I need to pick your brain on the idea of looking into another case that was brought to my attention.” Taking the cup with her for disposal, she stops for a moment to pat the officer’s shoulder. “Unlike these, yahoos. I have complete faith that you could Varlane.”

Moving to follow Diaz, Kaylee turns back and adds. “You need any backup, you have my cell. Call me.” She gives Magnes and Sanders a mock salute before hurrying to catch up. “Hey… Diaz. So… you ever heard of the Columbia 13 Bombing?” Whatever the other detective’s response, it is lost in the buzz of the station.


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