Participants:
Scene Title | All The Cards On The Table |
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Synopsis | Elisabeth risks her life and freedom in the hands of a man she's not sure of. |
Date | Mar 30, 2011 |
Elisabeth's Office, Textile Factory 17
The office door closes behind Curtis and Elisabeth looks up at him. She's wearing a navy pantsuit this morning and she was late in, but she keeps somewhat strange hours anyway so it's not like it's an odd occurence. She moves to stand, gesturing him to come over to the conference table, and takes a seat next to the one she silently offered him. For the first time since he came here, he is treated to the full extent of her silencing field — the coffee pot gurgle, the hum of the lights, the muted rumble of activity outside the conference room… it's all gone. "I need to talk to you." The words are soft but the tone may have the impact of a bombshell in the room.
Curtis is in casual wear at the moment, and he took a few extra minutes to get down here once he got word. He wasn't in factory, he was at his apartment. He also looks a bit tired, and drained. He walks through the door, a hand running over the short hair on his head as he steps into the office, glancing at the door as it closes behind him. He puffs out a slow breath, his forhead creased slightly in what could be a headache. He walks over, the rustle of denim sounding as he settles down into a chair carefully, then looks up and to Elizabeth. "I'm assuming this is something either official, or bad, otherwise you'd have just waited till you saw me around the factory, or had me meet you somewhere else." He arches his back and settles back against the chair as he watches the woman next to him.
"Depends on your definition of 'bad', I guess," Elisabeth says quietly. "I'm risking everything on you. I don't have a choice. I need you to take a guard detail assignment on Saturday with Emerson." Her blue eyes are steady on him. "There's a prisoner being transferred. And I need to make it look goddamn good without killing anyone. I need you to make it look like you're putting up the best fight ever to keep him from being freed. And ultimately, I need you to let them get the fuck out." Her career. Her very life may be on the balance here.
Curtis sits there, still and silent as Elisabeth explains… some of why he's here. At the end of it though Curtis presses his lips tight together and stares over at the blonde woman. "Care to run by me why we're running guard detail and supposed to fail at it?" he asks, an eyebrow sliding upwards, his arms crossing over his chest, and his eyes on her are alert, wary, and a bit suspicious. But, he's willing to listen to an explenation of why a prisoner needs to go free.
"He's a high-ranking member of the Ferrymen. Their entire purpose is to get innocent people the hell out of here when they need to get out." Elisabeth pauses and says quietly, "I will not say they haven't done some crappy things. But Curtis… I know that Heller's squad is made up of criminals and that we're all working directly for Humanis First operatives. Georgia Mayes herself. I don't have proof that will stand up in a court of law, but I do have eyewitnesses who have nothing to gain by lying, whose information has been backed up by a telepath." She clenches her jaw. "I cannot, in good conscience, let Ferry operatives be killed by my officers in an attempt to recover their guys. I can't go out to the airfield myself or I would do it. I'm… severing my career in passing the location of the transfer. If I'm lucky I'll walk out alive when it's over. But you have enough memories of what the Ferry's been through and what they work for that I'm hoping I'm making the right choice here."
Curtis listens, and he doesn't speak all through it, nor does his face clearly give away any emotions either way. When she finishes he sits up a bit straighter, not slouching, and lifts a hand up to rub his fingertips at his forhead. He doesn't speak right away, he breathes in slow and steady, then exhales and looks over at Elisabeth. "The Ferrymen are a good group. THey do however, employ tactics and means to obtain their objectives that they should not, given their mission of peace. I have known a number of ferry members. Some of which I very much dislike, some if which I care about." he sighs and leans forwards, bracing his elbows on the table top, eyes closed. "So, I'm supposed to make it look damned good without killing anyone. I'm going to be armed to the teeth and in a horizon suit, and I'm already me.. That's going to be hard to pass off. But I do agree with you about Heller's squad, and in fact Heller himself. I've heard some things about that man…" His jaw tightens and he looks to her, then back to the table top. "There's also another man I want you to look up, killed the sister of a friend of mine in cold blood, military officer." His eyes narrow as he tries to recall the name he was given by Griffin. "I'll trade you. I take the assignment, you get me the info?" He winks at her, a smile on his lips. Yes, he's going to take the mission, and it's pretty obvious.
Elisabeth leans back in her seat and raises both her brows. "Griffin Mihangle's sister?" she asks softly, figuring with his old ties it's a good guess.
Curtis rolls a shoulder slowly at the question, then gives his head a slow nod. "Yes. I saw Griffin in a bar, and talked with him some. I didn't tell him the truth of things. But I think he suspected something was really off about me. But he told me about his sister and what happened to her." The tone of his voice is cold, hard, and there is not much doubt about what he would do with the information should he recieve it. His face goes hard, his eyes a bit distant as he stares at the table top.
"I already know about it," Elisabeth says quietly. "And yes… it's already on the agenda to be dealt with." She bites her lip. "After Saturday, Curtis…. they're probably going to move Heller into command of this unit. I … don't know if you're going to want to stick this out. I believe that if push comes to shove, you can trust JJ. He doesn't…. really know much, but like you… he's not blind. He sees the writing on the wall with a lot of things and he's… of a mind with us. Emerson I'm not entirely sure of, but 85 percent chance that if push comes to shove you could…. read her in and trust her. Dooley really likes the toys DoEA is sending us, and I do not have a good read on her. Anyone Heller brings with him? Keep every bit of distance you can get." She pauses. "And if all hell breaks loose and you need to tell something to someone? Go to Jane Pak."
Curtis purses his lips lightly at everything he's told, listening and looking at the woman, his eyes narrowed a touch as he peers at her. "Why are you going to be losing your position?" he asks in a rumbling tone. He straightens up in his seat again, leaning back against it as he speaks. "Agenda or not, it's something I want to take care of. I owe Griffin that much." His fingers curl into a fist, then relax, then curl into a fist again. "Who's going to move Heller over here? He and his squad are a seperate operation… don't see why he'd end up in command, or is Kirshner being replaced as well?"
"The only reason I have my position instead of Heller is because Kershner pushed." Elisabeth folds her hands. "The DoEA is dangling bait in front of my eyes. The intel can only come from me. And I'm going to pass it to them. They will have all the evidence that they need to run me in as at least a collaborator. I'm burned. Even if I don't pass the intel, they'll come at me again soon….." She pauses.
"Humanis First tortured the location of a Ferry safehouse out of me 18 months ago, Curtis," Elisabeth says softly. "And then they put a bullet in my head and left my body in the harbor for the fish. By sheer stupid luck I was still clinging to a semblance of life when I was found. I owe the Ferry. And I will give them this information in spite of the fact that it burns me because it's the right thing to do. Judah Demsky was a good cop. He wasn't even part of the Ferry network, they're holding him because they're trying to get to his daughter, who is part of it. Scott Harkness, I'm told, is one of the best leaders the Ferry ever had. He's one of the reasons that a tank loaded with virus weapons was able to be stopped, buried under ConEd where it couldnt' do any harm. These men haven't had trials. They haven't spoken to lawyers. They've had none of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution that you and I swore to uphold. I owe them my life… and this is how I'll repay the debt if I can."
Curtis pauses at that, his eyebrows furrowing a little bit before he sighs softly. "It's a damned shame Rebel isn't around anymore. Then they couldn't be sure it was only one person." He shakes his head, slowly. "I can't say I agree with everything Rebel did, but he had the right idea." Curtis sighs and leans back in his chair again, unable to sit still today. He breathes in, holds it, and thinks. He lifts a hand up, fingers rubbing at his forhead slowly. "So, if they will know it's you, and they're going to burn you anyway, why are we even sending FRONTLINE on the assignment? Or is that in the hope that they don't have the evidence to burn you?" he rolls his shoulders and looks down at the table. "And yes, I agree. The secret trials, the secret prisons, all of this shit does need to stop." He purses his lips again and then shakes it slowly. "I'll do as you're asking, but I don't like it. And I do wnat that info."
"Oh, no…. that's a request from DHS. Agent Hanson brought me the memo." Elisabeth smiles faintly. "It's a legit mission. I knew about the transfer. But now they want two FRONTLINE members to be escorts of the transfer — apparently going to be standard protocol from here out of high-profile prisoners. God's honest truth? I don't even know if they'll actually have the prisoners. Could entirely be a trap. But it's a risk I'll take. And I'll get the information I have to you."
She tilts her head at him. "Do you think I like this? In spite of living in paperwork hell, I love this job. All I ever wanted to be was a cop, to protect people who needed it." Elisabeth's tone is tight. "The deeper I got, the more I started to see what was happening, Curtis. And if they're going to burn me or arrest me anyway? Fuck them — I'll see if something good will come of it. The only reason Hanson's superiors would have pulled this is that they want to see what I'll do. They're using her as a message girl, but I got the message loud and clear."
Curtis listens, his face falling a bit as he listens, his eyes on focusing on the table still as he listens to it all. A heavy sigh leaves him and he shakes his head. "I haven't had any actual field experience in these suits… guess it's a trial by fire huh?" He asks with no amusement in his voice. "I'm sorry." he whsipers finally, not apologizing for himself for anything, but expressing his regret over the situation she now finds herself in. "Well, if things go south… it was a pleasure serving with you, even if it was a very short term of it ma'am."
That brings Elisabeth's smile to the fore. "Oh, I have a feeling you'll serve with me again, Curtis… you told Harmony you'd stick around and help with the children of the man I love to the bottom of my soul. And considering whose children they are? I think we're going to need all the help we can get keeping 'em corralled. Assuming you weren't lying? We'll be seeing one another again." She jerks her chin at the door. "Let the techs know you and I will be out all afternoon training in the suits," she tells him softly. She'll make sure he's as squared away as she can get him before Saturday blows it sky-high.
Curtis pulls in a slow breath at that statement, his eyes going a bit… wary at it. "I hadn't realized she was running around telling people things that I've told her in private…." he murmurs, an angry tone to his voice. "Yes, I plan on helping out. I care about Harmony, a good deal. I'm not a family man though, and that is what she wants, I can't give her that, but she is a very good and very close friend… and I plan to help her out with her children, look out for her and the brats when they're born." He nods hsi head a bit to the mention of training before Saturday. "I will.." he pauses, rising to his feet slowly before he looks to Elisabeth. "Ma'am.. you might want to do what you can to keep Cardinal's head down. He has an over inflated sense of himself, or at least, that is the impression I've got when I've met him. And people with over in flated senses of their own self importance take risks that they shouldn't. You care about him, and Harmony does too, as does Claire. that is alot of people in my very small circle that would be hurt by him getting hurt or killed."
"Harmony isn't telling just anyone… she's telling the lover of the father of her children that a good friend is willing to step up and help her with the same children I'll keep safe with my life. Because their father's not exactly the marrying type either. Personally? I'm glad to know we've got that in common, because it means those kids have a full court of people to rely on." Those blue eyes reflect a momentary pain when he comments on Cardinal being hurt or killed. "I'll do what I can… but he'll do what he does because it's what he does," she says softly. "Look out for them both when I can't, please?"
Curtis grunts, irritation still showing on his face in regards to Harmony, but he doesn't comment further on that. After her question though, Elisabeth's, her request rather, he sighs and rubs the palm of his hand against his forhead. "You know what really sucks? I can't fucking stand Richard Cardinal. And yet a good chunk of my life is now connected to him. Isn't that a kick in the nuts?" He shakes his head a bit, sighing heavily. "Yeah, I'll keep my eye on everyone…" he murmurs, then turns towards the door. "Lemme go tell the techs to get the suits ready."
Elisabeth's lips twitch. Wonder how big an asshole you'd think he is if you knew that it's a future version of himself who sent you to guard the one that you can't stand? she wonders. Aloud her only reply is a soft, "That's a pretty big kick in the shorts for sure." And she heads for the locker room to get ready to take him out and put him through his paces. Because she'll make as sure as she can before she's gone that he'll be okay.