The Terrible Crime Of Cameron Crushing

Participants:

claire_icon.gif daniel_icon.gif eve_icon.gif helena_icon.gif trask2_icon.gif

Scene Title The Terrible Crime of Cameron-Crushing
Synopsis Helena and Daniel discuss the fine art of espionage, with interjections in the form of Eve, Trask and Claire.
Date September 3, 2008

Condemned Tenement - Rooftop

While some parts of the roof are less structurally sound then others, someone seems to have sorted out which areas are dangerous and blocked them off. Some overhangs have been jury-rigged up to block a direct aerial view that gives definite indication of the presence of squatters - a rooftop garden, clearly meant to provide sustenance rather than aesthetic. Tubs full of dirt are situated to take best advantage of the light despite the overhangs meant to keep them from prying eyes. Tomatoes, beans, carrots, even potatoes and onions and chili peppers are carefully tended, little laminated labels indicating what each row of planting is. There's a separate section for a small variety of herbs, and a sole small window sill style planter that houses the one concession to beauty; a row of sunflowers, and even these can be harvested for their seeds. Here and there decrepit lawn furniture has been scattered to give the illusion of abandonment; a stone bench here, an ironwork table with chairs there, one of those latticed metal fold-up chairs leaned at an awkward angle in a corner. Aside from the overhangs, the rest of the roof is open to the sky, providing a view of the city and the span of rooftops surrounding the tenement.


At present Helena is under one of the overhangs, sitting on the ground with her back pressed up against one of the tubs. She's reading what appears to be some kind of manual, with the look of having been copied and then bound in a folder like you might get at a corporate meeting. Someone looks like she spent her afternoon at Copy Kingdom. There's a little bag of chocolate covered pretzels next to her and every now and then she takes a nosh.

Daniel can be creepy sometimes, and his intense training regimen can bring this to the fore. Example: He is practicing free climbing inside of structures - through floors and ceilings, up the inside of walls, and as a result, the first thing that heralds his approach onto the roof is a disembodied hand in a fingerless glove reaching up through the floor, followed by a figure wearing a castoff fireman's air mask heaving itself upwards, the entire apparition completely silent, not the scrabble of hand on ground, nor the normal noises of cloth against body, nothing. The mysterious mask hides his face until he is fully up on the roof, at which point he clicks his cheap digital sports watch - it does not beep, and then, at long last, begins to make normal sounds as his feet nestle into the surface of the roof and he begins to unbuckle his mask. "Two minutes from basement to roof." he says, his expression modest but pleased when his eyes are finally revealed.

Eve enters the roof area and she smiles softly at the sight of Helena, "Hey there," she says and then proceeds to lean against the wall. "You won't believe who I saw last night," she states and shakes her hair out of the messy bun it was in. She leans her head against the wall and looks up to the sky. "New record?" she asks as she looks at Daniel. Her black dress rustles as she takes to sitting down on the stone bench.

"BWAH!" Helena lets out a shriek as Daniel appears in his decidedly creepy way. It's hard to get used to and even though she's more stoic during operations, it's not exactly something she was expecting. "Jesus, Daniel. You're seriously creepifying, you know that, right? Scared the shit out of me." Recovering, she looks up at the newly arrived Eve. "I dunno…Saint Peter of the Power Roulette? That'd make it a hat trick."

Daniel replies in quiet tones: "It should be a lot less, but my vertical leap is terrible when I'm a ghost, it's like jumping off a waterbed." He grins at Helena - as much as he ever grins, his mouth stays closed, but his lips turn up wide - and waggles his fingers at her a bit. "I didn't expect to see you here either, but you couldn't hear my 'BWAH' because of the mask."

Eve chuckles, "Is that his name? It was the guy from the subway tunnels" she says and then she just grins at Daniel, she always liked Daniel. He was a good kid. "I ran into him at the ruins, he wasn't happy but next time I see him, he'll come around," she says surely. She then runs a hand through her hair and looks at both Daniel and Helena.

Daniel says, "Who exactly is that?" He doesn't quite know who they're talking about.

Helena rolls her eyes. "You think your powers of persuasion are that good, huh?" She then looks over at Daniel ruefully. "You really should have gone with us, we were checking out some potential underground routes and we found this mural…and a guy. Peter. Claire knows him from way back." She doesn't want to go into too much detail. "He helped me out of a jam the other night, and apparently Eve's met him too. I guess he's an Evolved chick magnet." She shrugs, setting down her makeshift 'book': Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security.

"Not persuasion, I just want to help him. He seems like he needs it. That's all," she says and gives Helena a hard look. What's up with the attitude? She shrugs, doesn't matter really. Eve then looks up at the sky again.

Daniel says, "I'm guessing you didn't fall for his charms? Well, evolution is just a theory anyway." He's still smiling, but he's so very straightforward it's hard to tell when he's joking around. "What did he need help with?" he asks Eve.

"Try not to get pushy about it. Claire's very protective of him." Helena says easily, and shrugs to Daniel. "He's good looking. The scar was kind of sexy. But he's kind of older, and awfully emo." She flashes a smile back at Daniel. "I think the issue is whether or not he wants it. But he's probably the most powerful Evolved I've ever seen."

"Just intrigued," she says to Helena and smiles at Daniel, "I don't know, just get the feeling that he does need help. But I'm sure we will all be seeing a lot more of him now." Eve nods in agreement with Helena, "By far the most powerful. I'm surprised he was able to stay under the radar this long."

Daniel says, "I've always thought it's not the size of the power, but what you do with it." A pause, he looks rather abashed. "Er…that's not what I meant. I meant, you know. Some people are born with a lot but they never do anything with it. I mean…no, that's not what I meant. This is getting really bad, so I will just stop now." He doesn't blush, but he does look away.

Helena snickers. "Like the way you're intrigued by Cameron?" she volleys at Eve, and then leans forward to flick her fingertips vaguely at Daniel. "It's all in the application," she agrees. "But this guy…he's able to duplicate other people's powers. He just has to be around them for a bit and just like that," she snaps her fingers, "he can do whatever you do."

"Why do you have to be such a kid?" Eve throws up her hands and shakes her head, "Can I not like somebody that I've known for awhile? Is it really that much of a crime? I, Eve Kendra Mas, have a huge crush on Cameron! Now can we please stop talking about it?" Eve breathes deeply as she ends her semi-rant. She then shakes her head. Just going silent.

Daniel laughs - quietly, as he does, and covers his mouth with his hand as if it were a cough. "Well, now that you mention it, I do think it's a crime, isn't it, Helena?" he says, trying not to smirk. "The terrible crime of Cameron-crushing."

"Hey, don't look at me." Hel says emphatically at Daniel. "I don't have a thing for Cameron. He's old and like a brother. It'd be gross." She looks up at the overhang. "Also, if you're worried about juvenile behavior, Evie, think about the fact that we're genetically advanced freedom fighters waging war on a populace that hates and fears us, yet still uses vernacular like ''crush'' to describe our inter-personal dynamics." She looks back at Daniel. "Doesn't all that gear get awfully heavy?"

"Well? I- just" Eve turns a shade of red. "Ok, correction. I like Cameron. There." She then puts a hand on her head. "I'm planning on telling him. I just don't know when I will," she sighs. "A new friend of mine was basically telling me to just get over it and tell him." She leans forward and swats Helena on the arm, grinning. "What do you think I should do, oh mature one?" She winks teasingly.

Daniel says, "It's not too bad, just the mask and the canister. I don't use the full three-tank SCUBA thing unless I'm going underground." Quite seriously he says: "I try to practice with extra weight belts - doing heavy exertion of any kind with a breath mask is not easy to get used to. Even running can get you out of breath just because you have to actually think about breathing." To Eve, he says, with a grace that belies his own years, "Life is short, you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. You should take a chance."

Helena folds her legs so she's seated Indian style, looking a bit like the Oracle of Delphi. "I think what you should do depends on how you think you can handle it if he reciprocates. And also how you think you'd handle it if he doesn't. If you're not prepared to cope with either possibility, then you should probably keep your cards close to your chest." She looks back at Daniel. "One day you may get good enough not even to need that stuff. My ability's expanding all the time." It's true. Months ago, she couldn't do the thunderclap thing.

Eve grins and then nods, "I just want to tell him everything, so I guess the next time I see him. I'll tell him how I feel." Eve ruffles her hair, she looks off to the side and then looks to Daniel, "The more you work at your ability, the better you will be able to control it and use it more efficiently."

Daniel says, "It's possible. I mean, there's never going to be any air underground no matter what I do." He nods agreeably. "That's why the training." he points out. "Anyway, do any of you know what our next move is going to be? And did we really do that prank bomb at the police station?" He half-smiles.

Helena points out to Eve, "I suggest you consider how it's going to effect all of us if it doesn't turn out how you like. Nothing can flub things worse when we're fighting the fight and there's a soap opera going on in-house." She looks back at Daniel, rueful. "Haven't heard anything. Cam's keeping things close to his chest at the moment. But I'm thinking it's getting to that time."

"That's the only thing that has held me back," she states and then grins at the mention of some action, "I feel like everyone is getting restless, waiting for the next big thing to happen. I'm sure we'll know soon," Eve says and rubs her knee. She hit it earlier that day and it still feels kind of sore. She tilts her head and seems to be in deep thinking again.

Daniel says, "I get sent to these places to collect these things. Documents, computer disks, I don't know exactly what it all means, but I collect it and get out as quick as I can… Someone's got to be putting the puzzle together and work out our next move." He has every confidence in the leadership, it seems.

"I think we can make improvements." Helena comments, briefly brushing her fingers along the top of the book she'd been reading. "Little things that'll mean us being smarter when we're out there. Less likely to get caught."

"I agree" Eve says and then stands to stretch, "I think I'll get ready to go to bed," she says and rubs her eyes. Whenever sleep tries to grab Eve she has to take that opportunity. She yawns a little and smiles at the two younger people. "Thanks for the advice" Eve begins to walk back into the building.

Daniel replies with interest, "Such as? See you around, Eve."

Helena calls out, "Sleep well, Eve." Then she looks back to Daniel. "Well, anytime any of us casually goes into the city, we're taking a risk. We need IDs. And when we're in the field, calling each other by name should not be the protocol." She sounds like she's in an espionage movie… Blame the book. "We should establish some commonly known meeting places and safe houses as well as a few that are known to a limited amount of people, and some protocols for being around each other in public. Things we know to do if there's a capture. That sort of thing." Boy, has Helena been reading.

Daniel nods, fascinated, "Was that all in that notebook there?" he asks. "I have a bunch of stash houses and re-up dumps that I used when I was out scavenging…"

"It's not a notebook. I checked something out of the library and then photocopied it and returned the book." Helena says, adding, "Oh, don't worry the card's under a fake name. But it's like… the CIA has all these tricks. It's really neat. We just have to convince Cam they're worth adopting." See how she snuck that sneaky 'we' in there?

Daniel says, "It sounds reasonable," thoughtfully. "You have to change up what you do or other people will get the pattern. I do like going to the library, though I don't have a card." He can walk out with any book he wants and return it to the stacks later. "I didn't know they had books about that kind of stuff."

"You'd be surprised! There's a whole section on the history of espionage and a surprising amount of handbooks that are public access." Helena says, warming to her topic before adding, "Though I kind of started by watching stuff like Bond and Bourne movies." At this she looks faintly sheepish.

Daniel returns to grinning - again, as much as he ever does. "Man, those were awesome. I tried to use those moves when I was running the streets, just got my ass kicked," he says reminiscently.

Some days, Claire really wishes she had some of her uncle's abilities. Being able to just shoot off into the sky and get away from the world for a while would be so amazing. So would being able to blow things up with lightning. Or throw around the utensils and contents of the kitchen with only her mind. All of those things would be so immensely satisfying. Instead, she has to settle for storming up to the rooftop for some peace and quie- "…Hey."

Or, you know, not.

Helena looks over. "Oh, hey Claire." Helena is wearing that blue tank top. The one (that was) on her dresser. Now would be the time for a Charlie Brown-like 'aaaugh!' She continues her conversation with Daniel. "I tried to watch the Mission Impossible movies, but Tom Cruise was not only heinous, but defied the laws of physics in ways that made me eww."

Daniel, sensitive in his quietness, semi-realizes her mood, and says, "Hey, Claire," in an open but still reserved tone. He shrugs, "I liked pretty much anything with guns and girls. I can't even remember the last time I went to a movie of any kind, though. Are they even still running them anywhere on the island?"

Claire just sort of stares at Helena for a very long moment, jaw slack with incredulity. "Is that my shirt?" Of course it is. When Helena's involved, it's always Claire's clothing. "You can still catch movies here and there," she responds to Daniel's query. "The City has to keep its spirits up somehow. That's just one way of doing it." The brunette finds herself a patch of roof to sit on, away from the other two, but not entirely separate. She's not completely anti-social, after all. And, besides, if she wants to watch the sky? She needs to be on the rooftop.

"If we're not going to see any action for a while, some of us should go see one." Helena suggests. She's sitting with Daniel over by one of the vegetable garden tubs, and Claire sits a small distance away, but still within earshot. Helena doesn't bother answering Claire's question about the top, of course it's hers. Helena's just convinced Claire still dresses like she's a blonde despite the dye, and ergo everything looks better on her. She does however realize telling this to Claire is a bad idea.

Daniel says, "Why'd you take her shirt?" Unwise in the ways of women living together, it seems. "Like I say, I've been pretty busy stealing information and trying to keep tabs on things… but it couldn't hurt. It's easy to sneak into a theater, it's completely dark inside and everyone is facing the same way."

Trask comes up the steps onto the roof. He is in his normal garb of dark coat and scarf. He scans the area seeing Helena and Claire both and takes a good deep breath, before walking toward where Claire sits.

Clever girl. Not so clever man. Claire's on her feet just as soon as Trask approaches her. Her fist cocks back and she hauls off to punch him. The aggression needs an outlet. And right now? Trask is as good as any. "You liar!"

Daniel looks up as Trask approaches, giving him a nod and a brief 'hello'. He seems to have his attention on Helena, chatting with her idly, in his quiet, thoughtful way. He must have been phasing somewhere before stopping here, since he has his air canister on his belt and his breath mask slung over it. When Claire whips her fist back to strike, Daniel leaps to try to pull Trask out of the way, but he's much too far back to make a difference.

Helena likewise pops up. "Jesus, Claire!" she says, shocked, but not terribly angry. "I told you Cam said he's moling for us, not them. What the hell?"

Trask doesn't defend himself exactly; he instead lets Claire take her best shot, and lets her take any follow up shots she feels she needs to. Not fighting back at all.

Claire hits Trask at least three more times before she has to put distance between herself and him. She simply Gets Better, after all. And her knuckles are bruising. She needs out of his dampening field for that to heal up and the pain to go away. Sometimes, she can be a bit of a wuss. But, really, it's a good excuse to calm herself down and take a deep breath. "I can't believe you didn't tell us. We're supposed to look out for each other."

Daniel yanks Trask back whether he's defending himself or not. "What are you all talking about?" he asks softly. "I've been out scouting and spying, I'm out of the loop here. A mole? That's like a rat, right?"

Helena seems to be on the verge of hauling Claire back herself, but doesn't want to get hit, and maybe in her heart of hearts, kinda feels 'Sergei' had it comin'. Instead she stands next to Claire as she backs away from Trask. "Sergei is a mole in the NYPD for us. Only thing is, it was kept between him and Cameron, so when some of us found him in uniform at the Park the other day, Claire decided the smart thing to do was pull a 'death from above'. So we locked him up in the basement until Cam explained things." Helena doesn't apologize for what she did. Because she'd do it again if necessary.

Trask looks at Helena as she adds another person to the "list". He takes a moment to collect himself, "Cameron felt it should be on a need to know basis. The less people who know the safer for me. If one of you get caught it's better you don't know where the info is coming from, and can't leak it out. He still wants it kept between those involved and not spread through the organization as a whole." He turns to Claire, "You have every right to be pissed, but breaking cover like that, if you had been right about me you would have been in Homeland Security's hands right now. You need to think with your head a little bit more, if Helena hadn't been there with her cover story…" he shakes his head again. "Look I am sorry things had to go down this way, but we didn't want to take any chances."

Daniel says, "You infiltrated the cops? That's fierce," with some admiration. He looks up to Trask as it is, being an older and wiser resistance fighter, so it's not much of a huge jump for him. "Don't worry, man, I won't tell a soul," he says, and knowing Daniel's quiet way, that's not much of a stretch.

Claire scowls fiercely at Trask. "You never thought one of us would end up running into you while you were off playing cop? Not very smart of you, was it? If you're going to show your face to people, you should probably tell them what that face is doing when it's not hiding behind a scarf and a false name." The former cheerleader crosses her arms over her chest and subtly shifts closer to Helena.

No one told Helena not to tell anyone. "I think the group should know there is a mole, and just not know who. Otherwise this sort of thing is just going to happen again. So what the hell do we call you, anyway? Since 'Sergei' obviously isn't the truth at all. And finger wagging at Claire's the last thing you want to do right now." So there!

Trask says, "Sergei works, we all need code names at time. Isn't that right Karma?" He doesn't even go near the name Claire was called. "You have a problem with my name, ask Cameron. Personally I think you handled things very well, Helena, you pulled it out of the fire and kept your head about you. Cam asked me to keep an eye on both of you though after this incident. Maybe he didn't want you to know that, but I don't feel like lying to you right now." He looks at Claire, "I'll make you a promise I won't lie to you anymore, I won't promise to answer every question, but I won't lie can we start there?"

Daniel says, "Didn't you just say that we should have fake names and sh… and stuff?" to Helena. Every so often Daniel stops himself from cursing. It's not just in front of 'ladies' either. It's like he is remembering someone telling him not to curse. "Yeah, like street names or…" He nods to Trask. "Right, code names. Cool, cool."

"Whatever," Claire mutters bitterly. "I don't have to sit here and listen to this." She's a big girl, after all. "Try not to get lynched or something." Trask receives a dirty look as the angry girl strides past him to head for the stairs. One last look is cast skyward, no doubt hoping to spot West, before she disappears inside.

"Don't call me Karma." says Helena sullenly, and adds, "So long as you drop the stupid accent." Apparently it's enough for her, before adding, "You're not following me everywhere. It'll just piss me off. You don't want to make me mad, you know?" She smiles at Sergei, stepping back toward Daniel. There's a lack of ominous thunder, but one can well imagine it, right?

Trask smiles a little, "My mom had a horrible Russian accent, she lived in this country for 30 years, and she still had the thickest accent you ever heard on the day she died." He waves at the city. "Accents are very distinctive, they are remembered more then anything else. I'll try to keep it under control though, when it's just us, but around others, I have to keep up the cover. If that man in the sewers was working for Homeland, or picked up by them, all he will remember is a Russian named Sergei who made his powers go away. As long as he remembers that I am safe."

Daniel falls quiet again, he's put in his two cents, he looks on attentively and thoughtfully, letting Helena and Trask work it out with each other.

Helena shrugs. "Whatever." she says again, and seems willing to let it go. He didn't say anything about following her around, which means he made no promises in either direction. She'll have to watch her back. She walks back to the spot near the veggie garden tubs and plucks up the book, mouth pursed as she remains silent. Then, "You're still a total perv. I really thought Kathleen was going to shoot you."

Trask goes over and sits down near the edge of the roof, where he can look over the side of the building. "You're talking about those comments when you were tying me up? Get over yourself, I was just trying to cut the tension. Kathleen wouldn't shoot me, Kathleen doesn't have it in her, I think she offered to stand guard, just to make sure I didn't get hurt. In a way that is a weakness, not that I don't appreciate it in this case.

Daniel says, "I don't think it's a weakness to keep a prisoner from getting injured," quietly, but there's a firmness to that which means it's not really an invitation to argue, it's just the way Daniel sees it. End of story.

Helena peers over at him. "Get over myself? I'm not the one who flubbed his own double agent project." She walks over to Daniel, and puts a hand on his arm. "Mind being a shortcut?" She looks down at the floor and back up at him.

Trask leans back and sighs softly, "Your right." He shakes his head, "I argued with Cameron that this was bound to happen, but it still could have cost me my life if it hadn't been for you being there."

Daniel nods slightly in agreement with Helena. "Sure. See you around, uh, Sergei." Back to the girl on his arm. "Hold your breath." he suggests. "One… two… three." He takes a deep breath himself, like preparing to plunge into a pool, and the two of them drop through the floor.


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September 3rd: I Need Help

Previously in this storyline…
I Need Help


Next in this storyline…
The More Things Change...

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September 4th: The More Things Change...
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