Participants:
| Scene Title | A New Face, An Old Friend |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Helena meets her old friend Alexander as a new face, Leonard. |
| Date | May 27, 2009 |
He's not a huge beer drinker. But that was one of the things forbidden to them in Moab, so Leo's sitting on the edge of the grounds, feet dangling out over the cold water below, bottle in hand. He's only sipping from it occasionally, though. The dark gaze is distant, abstracted.
All things as a given, Helena prefers to be outdoors when she can. It's what brings her out, barefoot in jeans and a tanktop, a Red Stripe in hand in much the same manner. She pauses when she sees the person sitting on the land's edge and calls out tenatively, "Alex?" Something about the way he sits makes her think it's him.
"Yeah," he says, quietly, turning to look at her. The physical features are so very different, but thebody language….still very much Al. "Hey, you. How's this life been treatin' you?"
"Oh my god." she takes a step back, peers, and then moves closer to crouch next to him. Without asking permisson, she reaches out one of her hands and begins touching his face, pushing at his cheekbones and tapping the cleft on his chin. "You look…wow. That's - wow."
He can't help but laugh. The accent's gone, too, leaving him sound almost as if he'd been raised in Brooklyn. "I look weird. But not bad. The doc does good work, huh?"
Helena admits with a smile, "He does." She sits back on her tush with a thump, lets her legs out from in front of her, and just shakes her head. "Sorry, I'm just gonna stare for a while, you know?"
Al just strikes a pose. As much as he can while still sitting on the breakwater. "Funny, huh? I'm now Leonard Shelby, native of Brooklyn."
Helena cackles. "You're like a pinup girl gone wrong that way." she tells him. "Leonard Shelby. Do I call you Len? Leo? Lenny?"
Leonard makes a face. "Leo. Leonard. Not Lenny. I don't know why, but I hate that," he says, before settling down into his former comfortable slump.
"You've got a whole new life." Helena says with some wonder. "You could do anything if you wanted, with a new face. Do you have any ideas?"
The wonder is mirrored in his own dark features. "I….honestly don't know. It's like having your record wiped clean. But, I don't have any money, I don't have the kind of job that makes any cash, so where would I go? And why? I mean, Abby's still got my crappy car, but it's registered under Al. All I really have in this world is PHOENIX and the fight, and I want to get back to that more than anything."
"Me too." Helena says emphatically. "There's hammering out what we want to do - what our purpose is, since it needs evaluating, and with the climate of a possible war going on, it might need to be re-evaluated again. Then there's dealing with Pinehearst, dealing with the Company, the fugitive eight, people having their powers swapped like they're on a roulette wheel, Elle, the formula, and now Fedor's asked me if Phoenix will help clean up Staten and get rid of the criminal element. I'm not keen on that idea, but on the other hand I can see how it might be positive for pro-Evolved platform."
"It's a good idea. And completely beyond our resources. We clean up, the cops come in, they fuck us. We can't Uncle Tom our way into their good graces. Humanis First. You didn't mention them. That attack - that's aimed straight at us, those fuckers," He grinds his teeth for a moment, and the water beneath his feet ripples away, as if at a blow. "We try and take on organized crime on Staten, while we're fighting all this other stuff…..you don't start a two-front war, if you can help it."
Helena ammends, "And Humanis First. God, this is why I want Cat to make me a chart." Helena says, and breathes a sigh of relief. "Fedor tried to give me this whole thing about how we weren't really helping anyone if we didn't help him, and I wasn't about to have any of that from him. I just - there's too much, you know?"
Leonard nods to that. "Exactly. What's he gonna do for us, if he brings us in on that? There are way, way too many people trying to use us, no matter how noble their intentions. We're not as fucked as we were during Moab, but stuff is still up in the air. We need to deal with HF, the Company, Pinehearst. Putting our briefs on over our pants and wearing spandex, low down on the agenda."
"The fugitives are trying to change the future, but the future's already been changed, near as I can tell." Helena says. "I think we might want to let problem be one for the Company and Pinehearst…except where Tyler Case is involved. What do you think?"
"So, he's the power-switcher? But why exactly is he such the human McGuffin here?" Leo says, level black brows heading for his nose.
"Well, he's managed to swap Peter, Gillian, and Gabriel's powers around. Gillian has Peter's, Gabriel has Gillian's, and Peter has Gabriel's. I think everyone would like their right abilities back." Helena says. She doesn't even know about Abby yet.
Leonard just stares at her. "Gillian now gains powers, Gabriel amplifies, and Peter….what was Gabriel's original power?"
"I don't exactly know." Helena confesses. "I think it involves understanding how things work, but I'm not really sure. Peter hasn't started behaving like Gabriel, so I'm guessing the power isn't what made him what to get to people's brains…" she trails off, uncertain. "But this guy is really dangerous. People need to be fixed."
Leonard bites his lip. "That would be a 'fuck yeah'," he agrees, taking a last pull off the bottle, and setting it down beside him. "I don't even know how. We catch him, we get the relevant people together, we make him switch it back?"
"I suppose. I mean, I don't even know how to find him, much less how to capture him or get him to switch people back." Helena says. "That also, may need to be a Pinehearst application to the problem. I want to call a meeting with our leadership - that includes you," she gives his shoulder a nudge with her own, "And go through all these issues and decide what's in power to change. Cat and I still have the meeting with Pinehearst. I'm thinking you and Teo should go with me. Brian's so busy with the Lighthouse that we may need to consider a new lieutenant."
"I agree," he says, quietly. "That's a worthy cause, but ….we don't need him to get caught between the two, y'know? And I'll have your back, same as always."
Helena nods. "I agree as well. I miss him, but if his passion is about those kids, I can't really blame him." She sighs, keeping her head on his shoulder. "The sooner we can decide our game plan, the better."