Too Much To Hope That Peace Will Last?

Participants:

f_elisabeth_icon.gif f_felix_icon.gif

Scene Title Too Much To Hope That Peace Will Last?
Synopsis Felix gets the lowdown on time travelers.
Date April 10, 2019

Elisabeth's Apartment


It was hard enough to go into work … Elisabeth came in on time and worked on every bit of paperwork that had been piling up, ducked out of the office for an early lunch and was out of the office throughout the early afternoon, and then came back to the office to check over all her current cases, see where they stand, and put things in a position where if she has to take a bunch of time off in the next days, it won't put another agent at a severe disadvantage. Luckily, she's only handling four cases on top of her training load right now. And she'd told Felix they needed to talk, so by the end of the day, that's somewhat weighing on her too. She stops by his office on the way out of the federal building to verify that he's coming by the apartment on his way home, and then she heads out. By the time he gets to her place, she's had time to change into jeans and a sweatshirt, drinks are ready, and Cam has gone to Delilah's for dinner. "So tell me how much shit you're gonna give me if I tell you I need some flexibility for the next … couple of weeks or so," she grins at her boss, friend, and ex-lover as she closes the front door behind him and holds out a drink.

His job means extra work hours. So Fel's in his usual severely tailored suit when he appears, brief bag in hand. Some stuff he doesn't want out of his sight, even in his car. "It depends on what you need it for. You've never abused the extra leeway I've given you and I don't imagine you'd start now. But you have to tell me what it's about," he says, simply. He takes the drink, gratefully, and looks around as if expecting Cam to pop out from behind a door.

"He's upstairs," Liz tells him, already knowing who he's looking for. "He'll give me crap if he realizes you came by when he wasn't here, but I have a feeling you and Lee will be seeing a lot of him for a bit here." She gestures toward the couch, bringing her own glass of wine with her and curling into the corner of the couch. "I'm going to be abusing your good nature a little bit until I get some things sorted out, I think," she admits. "Maybe you better have a nice swallow and brace yourself. Cuz man…. what I'm about to say next is gonna floor you."

Felix takes a sip of wine, tentative at first, and then a bit more greedy. His expression is curious - Liz isn't prone to giving in to hyperbole, but clearly, he just can't imagine what's coming. "Okay?" he says, easily, setting his bag down by the door, and clearly waiting.

She waits until he seems to be in a place he's planning on staying. And then Elisabeth says quietly, "I've been trying to figure out how to lay this on you all day. And I'm still drawing a blank… so here it is. I got some unusual visitors a couple days ago. From the year 2009. They're… for lack of a better term, lost in time."

"A time teleporter?" Fel doesn't look pleased, though he's clearly trying for comprehension. "From ten years back?" And where's the punchline? Because there has to be one. He deliberately sets the wine glass down, and watches her. Not -quite- the look he gives a suspect across the interrogation table, but only because he's deliberately reining it in.

Watching him carefully, Elisabeth says quietly, "Tamara picked them up outside Moab Penitentiary the other day…. during the failed Phoenix raid in 2009, it has something to do, we think, with power augmentors on site and a rather big snafu either with Hiro Nakamura's power or something. But eight people who were on-site during the 2009 raid have apparently been pulled forward out of time. And believe me when I tell you …. it's imperative to get them back. One of the people displaced is Helena Dean."

Fel is….really trying not to stare. He takes off his glasses, and polishes them on his tie. Gauche, but that familiar thinking gesture. "How will we get them back?" he says, looking up at her, after a moment. "Do we ….there has to be a time shifter we can actually use," he says, on a long exhale.

Trust Felix to catch on fast. "Well, that…. is still entirely up in the air, my friend," Elisabeth replies. "Some mention's been made of Peter Petrelli. Pinehearst. I just don't even know." She smiles a little and sips from her wineglass. "How much of this do you want to know?" she asks mildly. "It's been a long time since I had to ask you those kinds of questions."

"Tell me all," Fel says, taking a mouthful of his wine….not savoring it, but more as if it were medication. Perhaps, at the moment, it is. Too much hope that peace will last.

Elisabeth nods slowly, and she says, "Well, here's what I know: Of the eight people thrown forward, three are members of the Columbia 14. Two are Vanguard members. One's Company. And one…. is Niki." Felix knew Niki after she was integrated — she was one of Cameron's godmothers, so he couldn't avoid it. "Right now, there's no way to know exactly how or why it happened, but Cat is pulling resources. We're bringing everything in so that we can send them back. But…. the Company agent is problematic at best. And … one of the returnees is …. somewhat personal. And I could use your advice on it."

Perhaps a bit of Lee's powers have rubbed off. Or it's just the sort of insight you get after years of being a cop. "Trask," Felix says, softly. It isn't a question, really. "Where are they all now?"

There's a long, slow nod, Elisabeth's eyes not leaving Felix's face. It's an interesting dilemma, asking the man who has for all intents and purposes been your son's father about whether he should be allowed to meet his biological father. "Trask," she acknowledges softly. "Right now, they're scattered a bit. Some are staying with Abby, some are in the old safehouse apartments in Cat's building. Which is problematic in and of itself, to my mind — compromises EVERYTHING back in 2009 when they go back. Abby's old boss Isabelle and her other Vanguard friend, plus the Company agent … all knowing the safehouses exist?" She shakes her head.

"They'll have to scatter and adapt," Felix says, matter of factly. "Or selectively mindwipe, and that I am dubious of." He closes his eyes for a moment, as if to shut all that out. "I don't know what to tell you. If Leland had died in 2012, and his self from 2009 reappeared…..I personally don't know if I'd be brave enough to let him go again. But it may all be necessary. We owe what we have now to what was done then."

Elisabeth's chest tightens and she says quietly, "I let him go a long time ago, Felix. Don't mistake me … I still love him. But… if he doesn't go back, Cameron never comes to be. And I won't give up my son for a man that I mourned and now remember fondly. And he wouldn't want me to." She is now the one who takes a large swallow of the wine. "I'm trying to decide whether to let Cameron meet him… talk to him. It's a big loss if they do go back." She sighs heavily. "If you have any contacts that you trust to keep this on the down-low, it might be prudent to put out some feelers. Time manipulation is not exactly in the phone book with other powers."

Felix nods, and says, simply, "You're braver than I, Liz," He ponders this. "I don't know what to tell you about Cameron. But then, consider the reverse - if I had a child, I'd want to meet him. Even if I knew I'd never be able to see him again," He ponders the dregs remaining in his glass, and sets it aside.

There's a grimace and Elisabeth nods slowly. "Norton's willing to merely watch him from afar if that's what I decide is best for him. But…. I wonder what Cameron would say if he ever learned he had the chance to meet his father and I kept it from him. The only chance he's ever going to have, assuming they all go back." She sighs. "I think I'm going to have to tell him. I just have to figure out how." She forces a smile. "He was born into a world where powers are the norm. He's smart enough to understand that it's temporary, but …. perhaps not emotionally mature enough to handle that." She looks at him. "You're his father, Felix… in all the ways that have mattered, you're his father. Tell me what you think."

"Let him. I don't think it'll hurt him as much as you might fear. I'm not going anywhere, nor are you," Felix says finally. He hasn't smoked in nearly ten years….and is suddenly overcome with the longing for a cigarette. His expression is tight, unhappy. "But you're right. This is the only chance he gets."

There's a slow nod and Liz sets her glass on the table. Then she moves to curl up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder and sighing softly. It's been some time since she sought comfort in just resting against him like this. "You know… I thought all this was over," she says ruefully. "Years over. Gotta love when the past bites you in ass."

He puts his arm around her, gently, and nuzzles into her hair. "I did,too," he says, quietly. "You hit middle age, you hope some things, at least, are just -settled-. Done with. No more fighting about." And then he adds, ruefully, "I hope this doesn't spoil that timeline's hopes for their future."

There's a soft laugh. "God only knows what this will do to their future. I mean…. going back with foreknowledge of your own death? That's… huge." Elisabeth remains snuggled up against him, and says quietly, "Helena Dean, Alexander Knight, Abby's old boss at Old Lucy's Isabelle… someone named Lucrezia… someone named Django. Trask. And a Company agent named Elle Bishop. And Niki, before she was integrated. That's who came back."

"If you knew when and where, and might avert it, wouldn't you?" His tone is musing, thoughtful. "Lucrezia Bennatti? Teo's aunt?"

"I couldn't help but think yes… I'd want to avert it. But … their deaths, their … martyrdom. It's part of what fed our paradise." Liz looks up at him and has a stunned expression. "What? She's who???" Oh shit. "I hope to God someone warned Teo before he showed up!"

"If she's the lady I think she is, then yes. I don't know….." Fel can't help but be a little amused. "I know. That's the catch-22."

Blowing out a breath, Elisabeth subsides to sit once more with her head on his shoulder. "I'm going insane. I'm too old for this shit."

Fel settles down more comfortably, in a rather uncharacteristic slouch. "Tell me about it," he says, wryly.

Elisabeth laughs softly against his shoulder and scoots so they're both comfortable. "C'mon. Share this bottle of wine with me, and let's ignore it for one more night, okay?"

"When have I ever refused offered wine?" Felix says, leaning more of his weight on her, lazily. "And certainly. I'm fully in favor of procrastination."


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