Participants:
| Scene Title | You're Not A Lone Ranger? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Yeah, right…. |
| Date | Aug 10, 2009 |
Leland and Felix's Apartment
The first notable thing about Fel, when he opens the door, is that his hair is nearly gone. It was getting relatively long, but now it's been shaved back into one of those haircuts with a little on top and not much anywhere else that makes him look like a Marine. And there's a patch of bandage on his temple, and no glasses. "Lee's not home," he says, as he props himself into the doorframe, looking sheepish - he's wearing t-shirt, jeans, and no shoes. "C'mon in."
It's the day after she finds out that Felix is out of work with a concussion that Elisabeth stops by. Yes, yes, he lives with a guy who's almost a master chef, but she still brings those chocolate croissants that are terrible for you. "So…. what? You wouldn't let me in if he were home? I didn't come to see Lee, anyway, did I?" she asks with a mild smile as she steps in and offers him the treat — it's really usually her addiction, but hey…
Fel has an enormous sweet tooth — it's only that he has a metabolism like a reactor that he doesn't gain weight. And even that, well… Lee's cooking has had him put on some very necessary pounds. "No, it's not like Lee keeps me in cop purdah," he says, wryly. "So, you heard how I got this one?" he says, tapping his bandage lightly before taking one of those croissants.
Elisabeth shakes her head in the negative and nudges him back to go sit on the couch. "No. All I heard was 'concussion' — do I dare ask what you did this time that's bound to piss Lee off to no end?" she asks wryly.
"You want something to drink?" Fel says, "Because honestly, these are really good with milk." And then he laughs, helplessly. "Oh, this is fucking rich. Ruskin came to me when I was out shopping for the goddamn groceries. Apparently the former Vanguard are being hunted down and killed, and the main actor in this is a guy named Feng Daiyu. He claims he's CIA. She was apparently hoping the ancient rivalry between the Bureau and the Agency would have me stepping into the ring on their behalf. I told her that if she turned herself in, we could plea bargain her, get her life imprisonment here or in the UK. No death penalty, but we could protect her from this assassin. No dice. So, I pulled a gun to bring her in by force….and she's got that bird power, you know? She pulled a falconer's peregrine in and dropped it on my head, I shit you not. In a full stoop, those birds are faster than a major league fastball. Knocked me out. I woke up to find a peregrine falcon sitting on me, and passersby trying to revive me. Pretty weird. The bird…..well, we took her in. She was banded. Belonged to a falconer who deals with pigeon infestations."
Elisabeth just stares at him. She can't help it. Because…. you know what? If Felix had half a clue that she could probably tell him where to find some of these people, he'd probably kill her for keeping quiet. "Fel….." She bites her lip, her chest banding tightly. What the hell is she doing? "I'm glad you're okay," she says very softly. Her expression has an odd cast to it, and she looks strained. "Uhm…. I'll get you the drink before I leave you to your dessert, if you want. Concussions aren't fun. Why don't you sit down?"
"Uh uh uh, Liz," Fel says, lifting a finger admonishingly. "What's that look? Don't try to lie to the FBI agent, I know you, you can't do it. Remember when I caught you faking it?" What 'it' is need not be outlined.
An eyebrow shoots up. "I never fake it," Elisabeth retorts sharply. "If you're not good enough to make it happen, it doesn't happen." But at least the comment is enough to make her bounce back. "I….. don't know what to do, Felix," she admits quietly. "I know a lot of things…. and a lot of people who should be in jail and aren't. And I'm …. the conflict is starting to tear me up. I feel like I'm not doing my job out there." She clenches her jaw. "And yet… this is all I ever wanted to be."
"The Vanguard have to go. But I want them brought to trial, held up to the light for the world to judge. I'm not going to play vigilante on this one, much as LEe fears it," Fel says, more quietly. "I don't know what to tell you, Liz. The time will come when you have to decide to run with the foxes or hunt with the hounds. I'm not suggesting we turn into some box-checking bastards who persecute the unregistered. The Pro-Evolved underground can be a wealth of contacts if they keep themselves within reasonable bounds. But the ex-Vanguard….they haven't changed. And we have to get them, Liz. No matter what favors they've done for the others."
Elisabeth nods slowly and replies softly, "Yeah…. Richard keeps telling me I have to decide which side of the line I'm on. And I don't…. have an answer." She wraps her arms around herself. "I really, really don't, Felix. I'm all for bringing people to trial. You know that. I believe in the system, in general — flawed as it is. But there are certain people… .like Arthur Petrelli… like Kazimir Volken… that the system is so not equipped to deal with."
"I won't argue that. I've got a medal for coloring outside the lines when it comes to Volken. That's why I'm not pounding the drum harder to have Staten cleaned up, or Phoenix wiped out. They're the canary in the coal mine, so far as I'm concerned. But Gray runs free. Holden presumably does. Ruskin definitely does. And they have to answer for their crimes. Basically, when it comes to an individual or an organization - ask yourself, is the public safer if they're at large to do what they need to do?"
She turns to look at him, blue eyes haunted. Elisabeth says quietly, "Right now? The answer may, in fact, be yes. All the precogs are going apeshit about a reformed Vanguard, rebuilding. Kazimir Volken … we believe is still alive. And yes… according to them, Holden and Gray and Ruskin…. apparently have a place in the stopping of it all."
Her answer is Felix punching the wall. It's a rather Lee-like moment of wrath, truth be told. He leaves a dent, which he looks at in puzzlement, as if not entirely sure where it came from. "Alive? He was never alive, Liz. He was fucking undead. I thought Abby destroyed him. And Abby has lost her power. So, what puts him down now? Do we have to nuke him from orbit?"
Elisabeth physically flinches from that, not because she thinks he's going to hit her, but …. because this… this is why she has up until now straddled this line with him. Keeping him out of the loop. "I don't know," she says quietly. "I'm given to understand that Abby's power and his power are… mirror images of one another. And that Deckard is safely at this moment housing Abby's power."
Fate has a sense of humor. Fel just stares at her for a moment, lips slightly parted, like she'd hauled off and socked him one herself. And then he laughs, softly at first, but it ends up with him nearly doubled-over with laughter. When he finally straightens, he's wiping his eyes. "Oh, god. We're so fucked," he says, still with a thread of a chuckle in his voice. "Flint Goddamn Deckard. Whooeee."
"Maybe not as fucked as you think," Elisabeth sighs. But she can't really figure out what to tell him. "I'm never quite sure what to tell you…. there are things I think you should know, but then I don't know whether to tell you because I'm never sure if you'll play ball when I need you to," she admits. "Or whether you're going run off and be the Lone Ranger."
"Barring imminent threat to the population of the US or New York at large, my loyalty is to the Bureau, and to the laws it upholds," Fel says, very gently. "No, that's a little different. I don't have any conflict of loyalty. The whole Lone Ranger Syndrome I have is a mingling of overconfidence, shit luck, and 'satiable curiosity. I am not a member of La Resistance."
There's a smirk then, and Elisabeth asks, "Aren't you?" She turns to look at him and points out softly, "You don't turn my ass in, and you know I'm in deeper than you want. You've actively helped destroy a mad terrorist who wanted to kill most of the people in the world…. without bringing in the Feebs, SWAT, or the military. You've provided me information when I've asked for it just because I asked…. and it resulted in the taking down of Pinehearst. I told you why it was necessary, and you made a unilateral decision to step outside the law because the law wasn't going to do what was right. That's pretty much the definition of a Lone Ranger, Felix."
Felix levels a look at her, blue eyes open, guileless. "But when the day comes when they flat out ask me, Liz, I am not going to lie. Quite likely I am going to go to jail for what I've done. My overall mission is to defend the citizens of the US and its Constitution. The fact that I've had fits of being an idiot cowboy while doing so doesn't make me less a cop. I didn't bring in any other agencies over Volken because of A) response t ime, and B) leaks. I didn't, and still -don't- know how many moles are in the Bureau, the NYPD, or elsewhere. I know we had some out in Jersey - that's who the possessed version of Teo killed. Dirty cops. Too bad the IA here in New York doesn't function that way."
Elisabeth meets his eyes and nods slowly. "Then all you really want to know from me is that we've got a Tier 3 terrakinetic on the loose in Manhattan who has a Messiah complex, and all the precogs are talking about a beach on 34th Street, nuclear destruction, and 25,000 people dead and 58,000 injured."
"That's right. Now, a whole lot of ridiculous skulduggery is covered under the umbrella of having a CI, which explains why I haven't already arrested Teo. Now, if you think the Bureau or the Department has resources we can use, tell me. I've got a lot, lot longer leash after that damn millstone got hung on me," he says, simply, offering her one of those lopsided grins.
There's a brief nod. "Honestly, I don't know what resources might be of use here. So I'm telling you that it's happening, I'm telling you …. that I have a bunch of intel in my hands and I'm taking a personal day on Wednesday to track down a couple of leads. And I'll be hoping against hope that nothing serial killer related happens while I'm out of town." Elisabeth hesitates and runs her hand across the back of the sofa.
Felix shakes his head. "Fuck, yeah," he says, bluntly. "I don't know what in hell to do, honestly. I want a goddamn vacation . Or a transfer to Butte. Or maybe Mobile, where all you gotta do is step on the Klan when it tries to show its face."
Elisabeth's laugh sounds a little strained and she doesn't look up. "Told someone today I was leaving for Tahiti, make my living as a cabaret singer or something." Her hand stops moving on the back of the sofa that she stands next to, but her eyes still don't come up. "I want… to go back to 2006 and… change that it ever happened. But somehow I have a feeling that just plain wouldn't work."
There's one of those equine snorts. "Yeah. Me too. Lee had a shift fit after he came and got me from the hospital. I….I play it as safe as I can. I don't go out on my own when it comes to business. This happened when I went out to get some fucking cheese."
The twist of her lips is almost sad. "You keep pushing Leland and he's gonna beat you stupid," Elisabeth opines softly. She finally looks up at him and her expression is shuttered. "You should eat that croissant," she offers with a faint smile.
He looks down at it as if he'd forgotten he had it in the first place, blinks mildly. "You know, you're entirely right," he agrees, and takes a bite. And once he's swallowed, he continues, "About both. He read me the riot act, but what can I do? Quit being a cop? Get transferred to the boonies?"
Elisbeth shrugs slightly and says, "Don't have a good answer for you, handsome. I just know… you've wanted what you've got for long enough now that I highly recommend being a little more careful about pissing it away. Call for backup and stuff." She moves to stand on her toes and kiss his cheek softly.
He kisses her back, and it is on the lips, instead. Chaste, and tasting of powdered sugar and cocoa. "I know. I love him, I won't leave him. Not in this life," Fel's voice is firm.
When he turns his head for that soft kiss, there's a hesitation in her movements. Liz returns the kiss lightly and reaches up briefly to stroke his face with her free hand. "Do you think you could do me a favor?" she asks softly as she steps back, looking up at him. "It's going to sound ridiculous."
"I can try," the Russian says, staunchly, lifting his brows at her enquiringly. "What do you need?"
"A date for the prom?" Elisabeth quips easily. "No… seriously. I need…. for you to tell me if you think I've stepped past the line. Because that's the day I'm going to need to choose for good."
Felix puts a hand on her shoulder, lightly. "I'll tell you. And I'll even give you a five minute start, if you have to run," And then, abruptly, one of those smirks appears. "This reminds me of that old Disney movie, the Fox and the Hound."
Elisabeth rolls her eyes and says, "I don't need a five-minute start. I'll let you arrest me on the spot." She smiles faintly. "I'm tired," she admits. "And far more maudlin today than I ought to be."
Felix pats her on the back, turns it into a rub. "Ditto that," he says, gently. "Thanks for the crescent rolls. You wanna sit and eat?"
Elisabeth shrugs and says, "Only if that offer of milk's still good." She grins at him.