Participants:
| Scene Title | A Grudge Against |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A mourning and vengeful Corbin asks Veronica about her experiences with a past Company thorn, who may or may not be a present Company suspect. |
| Date | March 28, 2010 |
"Corbin? Lord, I hope this is the right number, you never really left me one to get a hold of you at, and I don't see Teo too often. I asked him, confronted Flint, and he didn't do it. I managed to get his shirt off, and unless you shot him in his face and he ws wearing a bullet proof best there, he's not the man you're looking for. I'll keep my eyes to the ground and see what comes up as I go around. God Bless, Corbin."
It's the third time he's listened to the message, this time down in the lower levels of Fort Hero. The voice went fast, as if in a hurry, with the sounds of cars and background noise. The distracting sounds almost distract from the one thing he's sure of.
Abigail Beauchamp is lying.
Dropping his phone down into his pocket, he looks around at the faces of those he can see, looking for one or two in particular. There's stress in his eyes, darkness around the lids, as if he's not been sleeping well at all. Everyone in this place is accustomed to loss, at some point or another— but some it hits harder than others. Quick feet carry him alone, despite the tired look in his eyes. Unlike at the meetings, his shoulders aren't slumped. The person he's looking for usually reports in around this time— he'll just hope he has the timing right.’
Veronica Sawyer stopped in to her office to make some calls and file some reports, but as ever is on her way out again. She's not watching where she's going as she strides through the corridor, her eyes on her Blackberry as she scrolls through it, looking for something in particular. Rounding a corner, she literally runs into Corbin, looking up with at first annoyance and then apology flashing through her eyes — Corbin is one of the few agents she doesn't dislike, and she certainly understands the loss he's going through.
"Ayers… I'm sorry, I was distracted," she says softly, husky voice quiet as she steps back and out of what she presumes is his way.
The impact took him by surprise, sending him a few steps back. Corbin's anything but physically imposing— though he's not scrawny. He's just not a big guy. Not really tall, not really short, not overly muscular. She could probably beat him at arm-wrestling, not that he would be likely to challange. "No, it's fine— actually I was hoping I would run into you, Sawyer." One of the few he'd needed to talk to.
Though one could never have called them close, in the past. "Do you have a few minutes? I know you're busy with a lot of assigments." But the way his blue eyes look, he's really hoping she has a few minutes. Not quite puppy-dog eyes, but close.
"Of course," Veronica says — as if it's not even a question, though for most people, it would be. She's not exactly the friendliest agent in their little company. She nods down the hall back to her office. "Come on in. By the way, I just got a voicemail that suggests Luke Campbell might have been at that little party at the Queensboro Bridge a couple of weeks ago. Just need to talk to my boy on the PD and then I'll send out the memo," she says, tapping the PDA. She opens the door to her little office and nods for him to enter.
"Oh, he was attending the party on the island," Corbin repeats, not quite asking a question for clarity, though with a slightly different tone, he might have been. It's just a repeat, like he's saying it to himself for memory. The little office is entered and he casts a glance around, before turning back to her. "About a year ago you had a case— actually it's that Tyler Case case that was brought up. When looking over the file, I noticed a mention of a Flint Deckard. Do you remember him at all?" It's not quite the truth, but not a lie… the Case file had been brought up, and Flint Deckard was a side note. But that's not, at all, why he was asking.
"Deckard," Veronica says coolly, going to sit on the edge of her desk rather than going behind it and sitting on the chair. "Yeah, he was a charmer. We never really got much out of him by way of explanation for the fact he tried to fuck up our little party with the Triads who had Case." She shakes her head — that was one of the worst nights of her life, at least in the top ten. "The best I could ever get figured out was that he was pissed off that Winters didn't recognize him — obviously he must have been a friend of Brian Fulk's. We ran into him and when Winters didn't recognize him, he got pissed. He, uh, sorta groped me, and Winters decked him for it." She chuckles, shaking her head again — Brian, the rookie playing her knight in shining armor.
"A few minutes later, we saw the Triads with Case… I went for Case, Winters got in their van, and suddenly Deckard was shooting at us — the van's tires, anyway. I don't think he wanted to hurt Winters, but he certainly wasn't trying to help us."
She frowns a little, something creeping into her memory that she hadn't thought about before. "He asked if Teo knew about whatever Winters was doing — we kept asking who Teo was. The name didn't mean anything to me, then. That'd be Laudani, I guess. Funny how it all comes around eventually, huh?"
Something in her words causes Corbin to blink. More than a few times. Obviously bothered. Laudani knows him too— of course he does. The files he found more or less said that. Connected to Phoenix in some ways, lived in Old Lucy's owned by Abigail Beauchamp, who had been seeing him. Who probably loved him, despite all his flaws, and who would lie to protect him. Would Laudani lie to protect him? Did Laudani lie to protect him?
Shot at the tires. Worked with the murderer of a Company Agent. What if her career had been the reason she'd been targetted? What if that was why he chose to take care of her? What if—
All the throughs try to bore holes through his brain. Suddenly he's rubbing the front of his forehead a few times, visibly frowning and worried. This whole thing is touching more buttons with him than just an old 'Case' file.
"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night," he tries to explain away the sudden need to rub his forehead, before letting his hand drop away. "Do you think the man might be of the lock up and throw away the key, kind, or do you think… he was just trying to protect a friend?"
The look on his face has Veronica frowning. "What's this about, Corbin?" she says softly. As to the question, she shakes her head. "I don't really know. I think he was genuinely concerned for Brian in some ways… he seemed to think Winters was … you know. Brainwashed or something, and that if he could just talk some sense into him, it'd all be all right." Of course, Winters was brainwashed, more or less. She looks away, brows knitting together. If he was Fulk's friend — could he have been all bad? Part of her doesn't think so.
"He screwed that shit up — he almost got us killed that night. But I don't think he was trying to. I think he was just trying to protect Case, who he claimed he didn't know. I think he just saw some kid in trouble with Triads and Company and figured he'd give the kid a chance," Veronica says — in a rare display of honesty. "What's this about?" she asks, again.
For a few moments, Corbin's obviously hesitant, hands going deep into his pockets to make his shrugs more dramatic. "His name came up and I got curious," he says, trying to dismiss the reasoning behind it, with his eyes downcast and his face tense. There's even an odd tension in the way he shrugs, that seems stiffer than it should be. "I was wondering what kind of man he was— what he was capable of. If he was worth further investigations." With everything else they have on their hands right now, one would think an old case would stay… well… old.
But this isn't an old case. And as far as the words of a beat up sickly looking former pimp would go, it's more than one case.
"I'm guessing it's higher than I'm classified to know, whatever it is," Veronica says carefully, dark eyes watching Corbin's face as he ducks and hems and haws. She has guesses. She is no stranger to grief, nor the desire for revenge. "I can't really tell you what kind of person he was, since I never could figure out his motive. Probably just to screw with us, and because he was angry at Winters. My guess is, once he saw we were agents, and I'm guessing he knew what Company was, if he's friends with Laudani, he figured he'd help Case. Might have a grudge against the Company, or maybe just likes to see the underdog get away."
She frowns a little, tilting her head to try to find his eyes. "Sorry I can't be more help." She could ask Brian, but that would probably just be an invitation for him to lie to her, which is not what she needs.
A grudge against the Company.
There's silence again, but Corbin ends up nodding after the end of a couple shakes of his head. It's like he's trying to deny mental arguments, and then finally remembering to nod in acknowledgment to her, the one trying to help him. "No, it's fine. You were helpful." Helpful in ways he can't quite describe without pulling more agents in… "I understand you're busy— hell we all are. Especially us." Those tasks with special assignments as a team. And on top of that, they're all doing personal and secret assignments too…
Not that he knows too much about it. "Really, thanks," he says, pulling his hands out of his pockets after a brief squeeze of his phone, and then turns to walk out.
"Try and get some rest, Corbin," Veronica says softly as she watches him go. "You won't be able to solve it when you don't have any sleep in your system, you know?" She hops off her desk and out of the office, closing the door behind her. Her job can't be done from the safe confines of her little dungeon cell in Fort Hero, either.