Participants:
| Scene Title | A Second Try |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Abby hasn't forgotten, and a second post-cog is brought in, in an attempt to get a more concrete answer. |
| Date | August 18, 2010 |
Central Park has been, and remains, a key attraction in New York City, both for tourists and local residents. Though slightly smaller, approximately 100 acres at its southern end scarred by and still recovering from the explosion, the vast northern regions of the park remain intact.
An array of paths and tracks wind their way through stands of trees and swathes of grass, frequented by joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, and horsemen alike. Flowerbeds, tended gardens, and sheltered conservatories provide a wide array of colorful plants; the sheer size of the park, along with a designated wildlife sanctuary add a wide variety of fauna to the park's visitor list. Several ponds and lakes, as well as the massive Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, break up the expanses of green and growing things. There are roads, for those who prefer to drive through; numerous playgrounds for children dot the landscape.
Many are the people who come to the Park - painters, birdwatchers, musicians, and rock climbers. Others come for the shows; the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater, the annual outdoor concert of the New York Philharmonic on the Great Lawn, the summer performances of the Metropolitan Opera, and many other smaller performing groups besides. They come to ice-skate on the rink, to ride on the Central Park Carousel, to view the many, many statues scattered about the park.
Some of the southern end of the park remains buried beneath rubble. Some of it still looks worn and torn, struggling to come back from the edge of destruction despite everything the crews of landscapers can do. The Wollman Rink has not been rebuilt; the Central Park Wildlife Center remains very much a work in progress, but is not wholly a loss. Someday, this portion of Central Park just might be restored fully to its prior state.
Rebecca Nakano. Long ago, in a precinct, the two had shared a moment. Ages and ages ago as only a year and a half can be. Since then, the two hadn't seen each other and Abigail didn't realize at all who she had called and hired when she had tracked down through the yellow pages, a post-cog. Peter's post cog only took her so far, and while she had seen Raith, Gabriel and Teo discuss something, it still niggled at her.
By the fountain where it all went down, Abigail sits waiting in the post noon day sun, starting it's descent with her palms pressed. Stress melting a few pounds but not alarmingly so, she looks around to see if she can't spot this post-cog, post-cog who it seems works for redbird Securities.
Would it be so simple as just working for Redbird, but Becca's co-owner as well. That comes with meetings, decisions and all that goes along with owning a business. Granted, Redbird has been far more successful than Nakano Investigations, at least so far, which has been good for Rebecca, at least financially. She's dressed far more business like than she has been lately, as she's been doing some investigations off the records on their little side project, but it's time to pay bills, which means it's time to work.
There's very little that Rebecca forgets, which means that Abby is definitely not one of the forgotten as Rebecca remembers that first meeting, over a year ago, very well. So much has changed for Rebecca since then, so very much. She can only imagine that life for Abby has changed as well. She smiles to the woman as she approaches, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long."
"No, no, not too long at all" She nearly leaps up from the side of the fountain, wiping her hands on her skirt, taking in the asian woman. Ragged thing the last she had been seen by Rebecca, the woman looks healthy if tired and stressed. "Abigail, Beauchamp. I uhh, you work with Richard, Mister Cardinal. He's a friend of mine. But I didn't want to hire you because of that." There's no offer of her hand out in greeting. "Pardon me for saying but, you're pretty familiar"
Rebecca extends her hand to greet the woman, "I remember you, Abby. Or is it Abigail now?" Not wanting to be rude, she refreshes the woman's memory, "We met at the precinct, March of last year. I had a headache and you healed me." It was also the first vision that Rebecca ever had. "I used to work forensics." Used to. "I believe you also shared your meal with me that day." The memory is vivid. It was the first of many excruciating headaches she had, though she's very glad to be rid of them. "What is it that I can do for you?"
Abby still doesn't shake hands, a glance to the extended hand, curling hers into a fist before reaching out and taking the woman's hand. "That was a long time ago, almost a lifetime it seems" She knows who she is now, not the specifics of conversation, but one of the few who had come and sat with her, just for a little. "I can't heal anymore. Things happened, between then and now. I uh" She's usually more eloquent, but with the reality that it's someone she knows as opposed to a complete stranger.
"Uhm, there was something that happened here. At this fountain. You probably saw it in the news, about the murders in the park. I need you to… look back to the day? If you can, I already tried another post-cog who dumps what she see's into your head and she wasn't able to go back far enough, I only saw the aftermath. Are you able to do that?"
Another murder. It's a wonder she's not gotten numb to it all. But she hasn't. It still turns her stomach, sometimes to the point that she loses her last meal. Rebecca nods her head. "I can do that. I can go back and witness it. But, all you'll have is what I can describe. I've no way of showing it to you." She sets her bag down on the edge of the fountain and pulls out a hand mirror. "I have to use reflections to see the visions," she explains since Abby isn't used to her method. "Is there anything specific I should be looking for?"
"This isn't for a court case. It's just… peace of mind Miss Nakano. It's just.. a need to know something. You know how you have like a thought, in your head and it just sits there and it wriggles and wriggles and while you don't always think about it, somewhere in the behind of your mind, it sits and festers and grows. What happened that night, it's gonna help me to try and get rid of that. Put my mind at ease. I'm sorry that you'll have to see it, I wouldn't want to subject that sorta thing to anyone if it wasn't somehow important to me"
Her hand comes out then, closing around Rebecca's upper arm, almost in solace. "You'll know you're getting close when you see three men talking, and the bodies. I need you to go back further, just a little. I wanna see who the bodies were, I.. I need you to describe what they look like, what happened to .. I think there's a woman there, possibly taken."
The pieces all come tumbling together when she realizes that Abby is referring to right here. In this very spot. The same one she was at just a few weeks ago with Agent Audrey Hanson of Homeland Security. She tucks her mirror back into bag and reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone. She happened to snap a picture of the sketch made for her own records and still has it on her phone. "Abby, is this the woman you're asking about?" She scrolls, then holds it up so Abby can see the drawing."
Recognition is written plainly on her face. "Yes. That's the woman. I want to know what happened to her, I need to know" Why does Rebecca have a sketch of Eileen. Puzzled, she glances over to the other woman, the question on her face before an answer comes to mind. "Did… you look into this already?"
Rebecca lets out a little huff of air and puts her phone away. She points to the fountain's edge and sits down herself. "You may want to sit down. I could get into a lot of trouble by talking to you, but you seem worried. If Richard sent you, I can trust you." It seems that Abby will not be paying out for Rebecca's services. When Abby sits, Rebecca begins to explain just what happened to Eileen from her point of view.
It may not ease her mind in the least, but.. at least she knows.