Up Front

Participants:

abby4_icon.gif peter_icon.gif

Scene Title Up Front
Synopsis On an evening shift, Abigail Beauchamp corners Peter Petrelli about his connection to Messiah in a very clear manner.
Date June 16, 2010

Harlem


"So you're leading Messiah"

In the times that they have spent in the ambulance together, talking between calls, crashed into a snowbank, driving people to and fro from hospital to hospital, such a conversation or such a serious conversation has likely never come up nor did Abby, much less likely Peter, ever expect to hear that Question come from between her pink lips.

Cotton candy hair pinned back in a french braid and even that tucked and pinned, driving around in wait for a call, things calm this evening, She's got her hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Spotlight on Peter.

It's a good thing they're waiting at a red light and that Abby is the one whose driving, because the look Peter gives Abby means his eyes most definitely wouldn't be on the road. "Ex— excuse me?" Dark brows lift and Peter stares at the blonde as if uncertain of exactly what she said to him. Brows furrowed and his attention squarely locked on Abby, Peter just slowly shakes his head from side to side.

"Really, what— did you say?" Both of Peter's brows go up, head tilting to the side as he awkwardly shifts in his seat. "I really— Messiah? Look, Abby, I know you think I have a hero complex sometimes but isn't that a little pretentious?"

"Magnes has a big fat mouth and tends to run at it when it comes to me. That and I walked into his apartment on purpose with your red scarf Peter after suspicion got raised. I'm not stupid and no, I don't think you have a hero complex sometimes. Really Peter, your scarves are all the same. When I got a bunch of friends, that all wear the same scarf, I'm not wondering what really fantastic sale did you all manage to hit that I missed. And they really are nice scarves by the way"

That and shadows have big fat mouths. "So. You're leading Messiah. Is it giving you what you want and need out of life?"

The transformation is immediate once it's clear that dodging the situation isn't going to get Peter out of this. Abby can see the visible change in his demeanor, the way his typically puppy-dig expression changes to something more hardened, brows crease, lips press together flatly and some how he looks almost like a different person, the look in his eyes is colder, harder, more like the face he wore when Kazimir Volken was hiding behind his eyes.

It doesn't last, though, it fades away and shifts back to the Peter that Abby knows, that personality transformation coming with a firmly exhaled sigh. "Abby… I don't…" reaching inside of his jacket, Peter withdraws a red and black slide-open cell phone, snaps open the back and takes out the battery, then motions wordlessly for her to pull over to the curb.

"Yeah yeah yeah, if you go shadow, I'm going to track you down and pin the sun on you Peter" She looks for a break in traffic and a parking spot but settles for a red zone and in front of a fire hydrant. What kind of team is it when you keep taking out the batteries of your phones so that the technopath can't hear it?

Abigail digs out her pwn phone, repeating his gestures, battery out and with a glance to the two way radio, she switches the receiver off. Better safe than sorry right? "Seriously. Messiah? Is this why you and Kaylee parted, and why you've been running yourself ragged, not to mention trying to tell me something and then two seconds in, you give up and just shut your mouth"

"Abby you don't know what you're getting yourself into," is what immediately comes out of Peter's mouth as he leans over towards Abby's side of the rig. "Yes, I'm everything you said there, but you don't understand the kind of people I work with, the kind of people I have to work with. If they thought that…" Peter stops himself, realizing how he must sound, rubbing a hand down over his mouth and shaking his head from side to side slowly.

Looking down at his cellphone, Peter furrows his brows and exhales a sigh. "I know what Magnes thinks he's doing I… I need you to stay out of this, Abby. I didn't tell you what I was doing because I don't want you to get involved. I know what you did for Phoenix, I know how hard you pushed yourself and I don't need you to tell me how hard your life is right now with everything you're going through…"

Swallowing dryly, Peter looks to the passenger side window of the rig, then back to Abby again apologetically. "You are putting yourself, putting Robert, putting everyone close to you in danger the more you dig down about anything I'm doing. Just— all I'm trying to do is stop some very, very bad people… the people who kidnapped Gillian, the people who… I'm protecting our future. But you… you don't have to fight anymore."

Lips tugging down into a frown, Peter looks askance at the window and his own faint reflection in it, then back to Abby again. "It's not… not entirely why things with Kaylee didn't work out. I just— Abby, I'm asking you to stay out of this, for your own safety."

Her tongue slides across her lower lip, ambulance killed into park and facing the other man in the vehicle. 'I know Rebels has no qualms killing people, getting them killed, using them as they see fit. I know Huruma has done some really bad things in the past and is even a cannibal. I know a lot of things Peter. That's what happens when your belgium. I don't like it, I don't like that Magnes is involved, but I'm not him, and I'm not you, or Huruma or Claire. I just needed to know if what I thought was true"

"As for what I did for Phoenix? Yes, I killed Kazimir, I painted a few box cars with Phoenix symbols, but I also healed the Vanguard, and I did an errand for Adam Monroe, and I passed a person over to the Company who needed them and have knowingly told the Company about something so that someone wouldn't get killed."

Abby shakes her head, looking away, to across the street and around. "I don't like it, I don't agree with it, maybe it makes me a bit uncomfortable, but… there's going to be rules. Do you understand?" Pink hair hidden from view as she looks back towards her partner. "None of that Messiah business is done in my apartment and when the bar is up, it doesn't get done in the bar. Bar has, is and will remain neutral ground. Y'all will still be welcome into the bar, open arms, same as I invite Eileen or Rrobert or the company folks, you name it. But much like them, business is done outside. Got it?"

"You didn't need to tell me that, Abby. It's why I was reluctant to even move in when you invited me, the last thing I want is to drag you into this fight…" Swallowing tightly, Peter shakes his head slowly, brows creased in a worried furrow. "Abby if you saw what I saw, in the flash, you— you'd know that I have to do this, for everyone. I know you might not agree with it, I know you might not like some of the people I'm working with… but I— I can't live seeing the people I actually care about dying around me, getting locked up in prisons for fighting my battles or…"

One hand lifts and scrubs at his forehead and Peter's brows crease together. "Yes, I'm their leader. They look up to me, they need me to keep them together to… they remember what I did for PARIAH, they remember the fight. We're not just going to go around hurting innocent people, it… I just want you to know, you know me and you know the kind of person I am. Just— remember that, and please…"

Peter reaches out, resting his hand on Abby's forearm gently. "Please remember that."

Lips press in thought, careful neutral as he pleads, explains his reluctance with an earnestness that only Peter can ever manage. Those Petrelli brows, eye's, mouth, working in concert.

"You may say I don't need to, but I need to, to say that I have told you. I know who you are Peter. I didn't see what you saw in the flash, but I know what I saw and part of it, I don't want to come true. All of it I'd rather not. I'd rather Delilah not be forced to give birth to Walter in a store front, because our Ambulance is smashed. The lord above only knows. But Peter, what if by doing what you're doing, you create the circumstances surrounding the content of the flashes. Simply knowing the future, can and does at time, change the future, or you make it come true, so intent on keeping it from happening"

Her own hand with thin fingers, clear polish on her nails settles on his hand that rests on her arm. "Keep Magnes away. His intentions aren't true to your cause. I won't say what or why, but… he needs to be kept on the outer edges much as possible Peter, I don't want to see him hurt. I know that if he does what he intends to do, that your people will not hesitate to kill him. Same as they tried to take Liette."

There's a nod of Peter's head, steady and slow, before he looks out the windshield for a few long moments. "God himself couldn't stop Magnes once he gets his mind set on something, Abby. He'll either get out once he realizes what he's into, or he'll learn that there's consequences to his actions. I wasn't the one that recruited him, I tried to keep him out, but… the people that work with me can be convincing."

He says nothing about forcing the future to happen, he just stares down at the floor and nods his head once. "As long as Gillian stays wherever she is, she'll be better off…" which is quite possibly the weirdest thing to imply, "she's safer not being in the city, that'll change enough." Dark eyes lift up to Abby and Peter's brows furrow together. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way, I— I never even wanted you to find out."

"It's okay. Now you know why I borrowed your scarf. I figured, Magnes would tell me, cause I'm Abby, she of the pedastal. And I was right. I don't like it" Of course she doesn't. "Just make sure you give me warning okay? So I know when to get out of dodge, or to relay stuff in warning to the Ferry, things like that" Her fingers tap on her pant leg, a glance down to the radio. "Are you that paranoid about Rebel?"

"Rebel sees things in black and white," Peter explains with a very intent look in his eyes, "he wouldn't understand this, and the last thing I need is him thinking that I've been compromised and bailing on us, or… I don't know. Hana won't work with us and we need a technopath, but he's three very different people and trying to placate all of their paranoia is hard at times. Trust me I— he burned a lot of bridges for us, but he's a necessity. I just don't keep him in on the loop with everything…"

But the Ferry, that's something Peter can't quite shake. As much as he tries not to address the topic, the look on his face becomes a worried one reflexively. "Abby, the Ferry's been compromised." The words that no one in the organization wants to hear. "The Institute, the people who kidnapped Gillian, the people who were responsible for the storm, they've infiltrated the Network and… I don't know. I don't know who and I don't know where, but there's spies in the network. Messiah's tactician told me that he received some information from Rebel that indicated radio traffic detailing Ferry movements to traced Institute sources. The whole Network's… I don't know who to trust and who to tell."

He's hoping that he can tell her.

That's not good. Not good at all.

"Some days, I just wonder about the world Peter" Spoken with a weary sigh. "Some days, I prefer go here, go there, smite this, save the world, rinse, repeat" She lets go of his hand, settling palms on the steering wheel, followed by her chin as she looks to the car parked ahead of them, legally parked.

"You can't lead them, if you don't get any fucking sleep Peter. You realize this right?" She hopes to god he realizes this. "Can't very well do much without any sleep. I still want you at my place for now, just in case. Can't say that it hasn't been nice not to worry too much that I'm gonna go flaming up in the middle of the night and burn my neighbours. It's been a weight off my shoulders" She'll just add the worry of Peter in Messiah, leading Messiah.

"Trevor dies"

And Peter laughs.

He feels terrible about it but really, for a few moment's there hes' laughing.

"Sorry," is said a little exasperatedly, one hand smoothing down over Peter's face as his brows furrow and head dips down into a slow nod. Peter's quiet for a good long while, brushing his hand over his forehead and letting fingers cover his mouth, scrubbing at his beard as he nods his head and looks at his reflection staring back at him in the glass of the passenger's side window.

"We should… get back on the road…" is the awkwardly murmured commentary Peter affords to Abby, his head coming to lean his brow against the passenger side window, hands rolling his disassembled cell phone around between his palms. Dark eyes blink shut as Peter lifts his head up, then tracks a look over to Abby with a weary smile. "We've still got a few hours on the clock."

She's not amused. Sure, he's not the easiest guy to pull a job with and there's a reason he's the filler for folks who need a partner when their regular is absent. But he dies, and not in a nice way. Broken neck in an flipped ambulance cannot have been quick and painless.

"You try sitting beside him in the rig and know how and when and exactly the nature of his death Peter Petrelli. Be like you sitting beside me and knowing exactly how I'm going to die in a not so nice fashion. Then see if you laugh"

That of all things, actually does upset her. The radio is turned back on, and there's no warble or sqwuak, no person on the other side demanding to know where the fuck Unit 59 is. It's quiet for now. Likely to not be later.

"I want a coffee, lets tour down to the Nite Owl. Keep an eye open for any buildings that look like they might make good bars will you? Try not to laugh at my misfortune of having burned down my own business"

"I'll try…" is the deferential answer Peter murmurs down to his lap where his eyes avert to after Abby's chastisement. She's right though, about it not being easy sitting next to someone when you know they're going to die, but like Abby said: knowing the future means it can be changed, they surely have done it enough times. But it's not Trevor's death that's worrying Peter so much, as much as it is that he saw someone die in his flash too.

Here's to hoping he doesn't have to see Gillian any time soon.

Good luck with that.


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