Participants:
| Scene Title | A Man Shared |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | There once was a man named Norton Trask. To change a future, he gave up something amazing. How much does sacrificing your own son change you? |
| Date | Oct 5, 2010 |
Redbird Security Solutions
As she comes down the stairs, Elisabeth is wearing a pair of jeans and an NYPD sweatshirt that's seen better days. She walks through the main lobby on her way to the front door, and runs smack into the redhead who is Elle now. "Oh!" she gasps. "Well, shit." It startles her to find the woman heading for the employee lounge, honestly. "Good timing… I was heading out to find you."
Elle blinks as she bumps into Liz, nearly spilling the soda she has. She smiles faintly to Liz as she recovers, offering a small wave. "Hey, Liz. Looks like luck is on our side, or something." She smiles to the woman. The clothes that Liz got her fit even looser than the ones that Liz got her, the woman's hips apparently a bit thinner than they once were. She's got on a pair of jeans, and a loose shirt that features a Mario-style pixelated Boba Fett on the front. "What's up?"
Elisabeth gestures toward the lounge and says, "C'mon…. need to talk to you. I have… a bit of news that I don't have a clue how you're going to react to."
Red eyebrows raise on the woman's pale forehead, following Liz into the lounge and sitting at a table, crossing her legs. "I don't know if I should be nervous, but go ahead. I'm all ears." Elle sips at her soda, thoughtfully peering at Liz.
The blonde glances around the room and sighs. "Elle….. this is going to come out of the blue." Her eyes skim across the wall and then down to the girl's face. "Did you keep in any kind of contact with Trask?"
The mention of Trask has Elle leaning forward, cupping her soda between both hands as she peers at Liz, her brows raised high. "No…I didn't keep in contact with him. Why?" She tilts her head to one side, lifting the soda to her lips and taking a long draught. She almost wishes she had some alcohol mixed in. She may need it, never know.
Well, on some level that makes this easier. "I don't have a fucking clue how to ease into this, so I'm just laying it flat out," Elisabeth says quietly. She herself is still reeling. "A contact inside the Institute's new digs has ID'd Norton as being voluntarily on their payroll as their pet negator." Her tone is flat. "Whether he's in there because he actually knows what they're doing or he's just ignorantly employed by them or he's running his own op or running an op on them for someone we aren't aware of yet…… any of those options are plausible. We just have no way of knowing. But if or when we go in there loaded for bear, you might come face to face with him." And Elle being acquainted with his power, she'll know its limitations too.
Elle's already pale face gets a little paler at the news. "Trask…is Institute?" She blinks a few times, turning her gaze down to the table. Then, she's standing, moving to the wall and staring at it, her arms crossed in front of her chest. There's silence from the little redhead for a long moment, as she paces around the break room.
Finally, after a long moment, she turns, nodding stiffly to Liz. "I understand." This is said in a numb tone.
"No. You don't. You can't. Because I know I sure as fuck can't, and I loved the man for two years," Elisabeth retorts. "Have a little faith unless or until we have proof otherwise. Cuz I can't hold onto mine without some help, Elle," she says baldly.
Elle flinches quietly, closing her eyes. "I'm just bracing myself for the worst, Liz." She frowns, shaking her head and returning to her seat. "I've come to expect the worst in everything. That…" She pinches at the bridge of her nose, exhaling quietly. "If it's true, and we have to face him, and we can't talk to him…" She turns a frown to Elisabeth. "Then we have to be prepared for that. Then…if it turns out wrong, or we can talk sense into him…then it's even more satisfying." A defense mechanism, is what the little electric redhead is trying to explain to Liz.
Elisabeth shakes her head and says quietly, "I cannot shore up everyone else's faith right now, Elle. Finding out that Norton is in there, apparently voluntarily, has just about floored me." This from a woman who rarely admits to anything with anyone. "But yes, we need to be prepared for the idea that if we go in there, we could come face to face with him. And he might or might not shoot. I have to believe he's running an operation. For someone. Or that he doesn't know what he's gotten into. One of those two things has to be true, or seriously? About half of my perspective on the world just kilted sideways."
"It's…easy, really. To fall for their tricks. I was reading about it, and from an outside perspective…Harper was manipulating me. I was in an insecure place, and Harper gave me a security blanket to cling to…but he was just using me. They promise you things that you want, and give you little tempting tidbits of what you're after, but never really fulfill their end of the deal." She frowns.
Then, the redhead sighs softly, turning over to Liz with a frown. "I— I hope that he's just…just like I was. Manipulated into being there. Or running something. But…don't get your hopes up to high, Liz." She frowns, falling quiet for a moment
"I would have killed my own father for them, at one point…"
Elisabeth says softly, "The only thing they could have offered him that he might have been willing to take…. was the knowledge that his son would still get born." Her jaw clenches. "So I'm hoping to God he's running an op, Elle. Because otherwise? He really is on the wrong side. And we may be able to change his mind…. but we may not. Losing Cameron broke something in him." Something Elisabeth herself doesn't feel because she never met that child face to face.
"You never know, Liz. They have their ways of getting under your skin." She frowns. "They read your files, and they dig, and they find out what would get you to say yes to them without question. They could've used Cameron, they could've used you, they could have done any number of things to coerce him. I wouldn't put it past them." She frowns. "I hope I'm wrong. I hope you're right That's about- all the optimism you're going to get from me." Elle frowns quietly, sipping at her soda.
Then, she sighs, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I— I'm sorry, Liz. I just…I find that expecting the worst is the best way to avoid getting hurt, any more. At least I won't be disappointed."
She smiles a little. She can understand it. Elisabeth simply nods. "It's enough for now. Just…. for God's sake, don't just shoot him in the face if we run into him, okay? Clunk him over the head for extraction first." Her tone is dry. "I'm heading back to the base. Be good, willyou? Stay out of TROUBLE."
Elle smiles faintly. "Phasers will be set to stun for Trask. I'd sooner drag him back here and tie him up until we figure it out." She nods quietly. Then, a winning smile is offered to Liz. "I'll stay out of trouble. I'm now Madison Cole, by the way." She tilts her head to one side. "I'll see you later, Liz. You take care, okay?"
"I'll do my best," Elisabeth replies, forcing a smile. "See you later. Maddy." And then she's gone.