What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif felix_icon.gif

Scene Title What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men
Synopsis A shadowy informant drops off some information for Felix Ivanov.
Date August 25, 2009

Leland and Felix's Apartment


It's in a decent apartment building. And at the moment, Felix's cop lover/roommate is out on another night stakeout. So the Fed is alone in the little two bedroom apartment, watching 'Appaloosa' on the flatscreen TV while sprawled out on the living room couch. He's in plain dark pajama pants, no glasses, and a faded Johnny Cash t-shirt. The place is plainly furnished - the electronics are very nice, and everything's fairly neat, but save for the gleaming kitchen, it has the unmistakable air of a place inhabited by two bachelor males.

"My god," states a shadow stretching up one wall, shifting subtly into the silhouette of a man, "I feel like I just walked into a sitcom. Do you really live here now, Ivanov?" A pause. "The motel room suited you better."

There's a startled snort from Felix, and from somewhere, he's produced a pistol, even as he sits up. Like he totes the Walther everywhere like Linus and his blankie. Once he realized it's his favorite shadow. "Jesus fuck. Do I have to sew you back on Peter Pan, or what? What do you want?" he says, irritably.

At that, Cardinal observes amusedly, "I should hope not. Actually, I was here to do you something of a favor… help you out with a little snake in the grass you've recently put out a watch and deain order regarding…" A pause, "I mean, I could leave if you don't want Feng Daiyu's phone."

That has him sitting bolt upright in earnest, and grinning, despite the wreck that his face is, at the moment. "Now, how did you hear about -that-?" he wonders, expression gone amused and sly.

"Oh, you know me…" A hand pushes free of the shadow, darkness spilling outwards into corporeal form as the ex-convict steps from two dimensions to three, flashing a roguish smile over to the Fed and holding up a plastic baggie with a small sim card at the bottom, "…I know things."

"Do you know what's up with Liz?" Fel asks, expression a little concerned, even as he holds out a hand for the baggie eagerly.

"She sent me a message saying she had a… project to work on," Cardinal says with a shake of his head and with confidence in the woman mentioned in his voice, dropping the bag off in his hand, "I haven't had word of anything going on, so maybe it's just an overnight thing."

Ah, how little does he know.

He tilts his chin to the baggie, then, "After I nearly killed Daiyu on the interstate, he threw that away to try and hide it. Should be phone numbers on it. Run 'em and find out who they belong to - but I want to know too. If this goes deep enough, and we can get legit evidence…"

"He's so deep and black he's illegal. He's up to shit that no one, not even the President, can truly authorize," Fel says, and then he eyes Cardinal sharply. "And what do I owe you in return?"

"I think I know what he's up to. He's looking in the wrong place, though, and I think he's letting personal into it…" Cardinal pauses, then adds with a snort, "Unless my worst-case scenario's accurate, and then it's even worse'n I hope."

He leans back against the wall, fingers adjusting his shades before replying easily, "I want a copy of whatever's on there, and the information you get when running the numbers. I can't do that myself, so we'll call it even. Besides." He grins, "He doesn't take you seriously. And I like to see men like Daiyu proven wrong."

"You want something to eat, drink, Cranston?" Fel says, affably, weighing the little baggie in his hand like it contains the One Ring. "Understood. It may take me a little, but I'll work as fast as I can. …..he mentioned you to me?"

"Oh, he didn't know I was there," Cardinal shrugs one shoulder, "Control informed him about the watch-and-detain order, and he informed the Director…" Dryly, he adds, "I'd really like to know who the fuck either of those people are, mind you."

"He's a spook of the first water. And I have a suspicion he's got ties to the Vanguard that are far from kosher," Fel says, looking around for a phone.

"Oh, he was Vanguard," Cardinal's head bobs in a slight nod, pushing away from the wall and tilting his head this way and that with a pop-crackle of his neck, "I'm not sure if he's ex Vanguard or not, although he seems to be… but he claims and seems to be a lot of things. It's certain that he was Vanguard back in the day, though. Has a huge hate on for Holden."

"Unfortunate. GEnerally, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but….." Fel shrugs, ducks into the kitchen to return with a bottle of vodka, a couple of glasses. Because that totally goes beautifully with head injuries.

"Holden isn't the enemy today," Cardinal notes with a faint snort of breath, stepping over to settle onto the edge of the couch and leaning back, "Although the Vanguard still is. If they reform… if someone takes the reins and puts the final contingency into effect…" He trails off, lips pursing in a grimace, "You don't want to know what'll happen."

"Gotterdammerung," Fel says, as he pours himself a good few fingers of clear liquid, pauses the bottle over the mouth of the other glass, looks to Richard enquiringly. "And Holden is. Just not the priority of the moment."

"Exactly." A tilt of Cardinal's chin up towards the other man, "Please. Just one. It's too early for more." Of course, it's not entirely 'early' by sane definitions, but perhaps for the nocturnal it is. "And yeah. The precogs predict nuclear fire, raining down from above… it's a bad scene."

It's a measure of just how adaptable the human heart is that Fel doesn't react with more than a put-upon sigh. Like someone fucked up his drycleaning. "This place is perpetually teetering on the edge of Ragnarok. I should've stayed in Seattle." He pours a shot full with a deft motion of his wrist, hands it over.

"Nazdorovye," he adds, wryly. "Here's hoping that watch order at least slows him down a little. Motherfucker."
The other shot's lifted up, and Cardinal offers easily, "And here's hoping the phone's card'll slow him down even more… until we know what side he's on, at th'fuckin' least. Cheers."

"Not the side of light, delighted as I'd be if he killed all the Vanguard," Felix says, bluntly.

"I'll be happy if Kazimir stays dead," Cardinal snorts, then downs the shot.

Felix knocks back his own. "Here's to that. I cut his fucking head off once," he says, reminiscently. "And he nearly killed me a time or two. God, how his power hurts."

The shot glass is thumped down, and Cardinal's head shakes a bit. "If you only knew, Felix…" His head falls back on the couch, eyes closing, "…that power… it's a lot older than him. Shit. So many fuckin' secrets in my head these days."

"I know. He's abody jumper, of a sort. The body he was wearing when all this shit went down wasn't even his. IT was that of an FBI agent he killed. I'm sorry I didn't get to avenge him more directly," Fel says, musingly, setting down the empty glass.

"Even older." Cardinal's head lifts, and he looks over to Felix with a wry expression, "You fought the Vanguard. You ever run into a guy named… Wu-Long?"

Felix nods, solemnly, "I did. I know he's a possible old associate of Daiyu's," he says. "How old do you think Kazimir is? Was?"

"I know that he was involved in experimentation over in Germany," Cardinal says quietly, "The power itself— is older than the man, not just the body. It, and its opposite, have been moving from host to host for… I'm not sure how long." A tilt of his head, "What can you tell me about this Wu-Long?"

"Wait. Its opposite?" Fel's attention is abruptly caught, a loop of thread snagged on a cat's claw, and the blue eyes are wide as he peers over at Cardinal. "That's a little more cosmic than I like to think of. A battle between light and dark. Who carries the other avatar? Do we know?" He runs his hand over his scalp, sighs. "HE had a power much like yours, actually."

"Abigail," Cardinal shrugs one shoulder, slanting a wry look over, "Until it moved to Deckard, anyway. Try not to kill the old man until it moves on, mnm? We might need it. I know where Kazimir's is too, but I'm not going to tell you that." A faint twitch of his lips, "Does sound pretty cosmic-ridiculous, doesn't it? My life's a fuckin' sci-fi novel. Mm. Like mine?"

Felix goes very still. "I wondered. I remember her noting that she doesn't even have the gene to be Evolved. It really was….something else. I know about Deckard. I won't kill him yet, despite owing him. I remember now. I rememberall of it." He doesn't bother to make clear what 'it' might be. Felix is very, very uncomfortable ascribing anything directly to God. "Gray. Doesn't Gray have it?"

Cardinal's eyes close, and he gives his head a tight little shake. "No," he says quietly, "Gray had it. It was… contained, then. His power was keeping it under control. He thinks that he can teach the new host to do the same, but I'm less… confident."

There's a very strange look on Felix's face then, chagrin and calculation and something else entirely all mingled. "I half-wonder," he says, in a confiding murmur, "IF we shouldn't find a way to destroy that host. At such a distance it can't jump into another body." Yes, he more or less proposed assassinating an innocent.

"I've considered it." Cardinal gives his head a tight shake, "Gabriel won't let me near him, though. A better plan would be to get him and Deckard in forcible contact, but… again…" A sharp gesture, "I just hope that he's right. If it gets out of control, if it is sentient like I'm worried…"

"If it is what you claim, then what we need is not Deckard. What we -need- is an old priest and a young priest," Fel's only half-joking at that. Maybe not even half. "'And yes, we should. Whatever Deckard carries dealt with it once."

A faint snort, "Maybe we do." Cardinal's nose wrinkles, and he pushes himself up to his feet, "Anyway, I've got shit to do today. Let me know what you get off that card?"

Felix offers a mocking little salute. And then puts the bottle away. "Will do," he says, simply.
Request submitted. It is number 11 in the overall queue.

"I'll tell Liz y'said hello," Cardinal offers, heading for the door— and by the time he's there, there's just a shadow, flickering beneath the door's edge.

"Evening, Lamont," Felix says. And with that, he heads to his bedroom, gets dressed in street clothes.


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