Any Time Is A Good Time...

Participants:

cat_icon.gif helena_icon.gif tamsine_icon.gif

In dreamscape:

cameron_icon.gif s_cat_icon.gif len_icon.gif

Scene Title Any Time Is A Good Time…
Synopsis … for vandalism of an illegal substance.
Date February 12, 2010

Tamsine Whitaker's dreaming mind


The particulars on the woman are fresh in Cat's head, fresh as anything else she's seen in these last seven years barring periods after Arthur Petrelli tried to kill her and stripped away the power, not to mention isolated occasions of being in the presence of negators. Tamsine Whitaker, mother of Liliana Whitaker, one of the Thirty-Five the entity caused to commit suicide. Found her in the registry, Tier 1, which means no address made public. A teleporter. Just who they need to get in and out of the target location unobserved. The lack of address thing is no problem, there are other ways to make contact.

So here she is, just past the midnight moment when Thursday the 11th became Friday the 12th, waiting near a mirror for Helena to join her. She's ready to travel Ichihara Dreamways.

Helena emerges from the mirror with a sudden push outward, and not far behind her is a taller, masculine form; Cameron. It seems that his presence is standard now whenever Helena flies Hokuto Dreamway Airlines. "Hi, Cat." the pair both say at the same time. Hel casts Cam a vaguely amused-annoyed look and says to Cat, "Are you ready? I mean, you know where we're going, right?"

Meanwhile, Tamsine Whitaker is just slipping into the deeper stages of slumber, having been up planning for the rather whirlwind wedding on Sunday — just a small gathering, but there is still food and flowers and dresses and guests to plan for. In the physical realm, she is curled up and in the arms of Len. As for her dreams? For once, the teleporter seems to be having a pleasant one. The redhead is sitting on a beach in a white sundress, watching a dark-skinned child frolic in the water beside the tall cowboy. The horizon is painted with streaks of red, gold and pink as the sun begins to set. Tamsine's toes dig in the still-warm sand as she gazes with love at a family that is not quite hers yet.

The panther appears when Helena and Cameron arrive and paces at her feet. Cat glances down and rubs behind the predatory beast's ears for a moment, then glances over at the others. "I should probably take this one inside," she muses, "it'll maybe seem odd enough to have visitors, don't want to freak her out more with the sight of a panther right off the bat." Then, with a nod to indicate yes, she knows where they're going, Cat steps through the mirror and onto the beach.

She takes some time to watch without calling attention to herself immediately, getting the feel of what the entered dreamscape involves first. Woman, child, cowboy? Well. That's interesting.

Helena moves onto the beach herself, with Cameron in tow, at least until Helena looks at him over her shoulder. He gives her a hapless, What? expression, and then with a grumble he appears to fade away as well. Catching up with Cat, she remarks taking in the dark skinned man, "Hey, I know that guy." Her tone is filled with suspiscion, she remembers where she knows that guy from, too. "Why is he in this woman's dream?"

The voices catch Tamsine's attention, and she turns to look over her shoulder, confusion in her eyes as she watches the two women approach her. She recognizes Cat from the last nightmare, and she gives a shake of her head. "This is a good dream, isn't it? Am I in trouble again? I thought I defeated him," she says, standing up and brushing the sand off of her white dress as she moves toward the other two women. "I think it's a good dream… is he coming?" she looks worried, standing on tip toe to look past Helena and Cat into the distance, then turning to cast a glance at her small family in the water.

A look which says 'I don't know' is shared with Helena at the comment about Len, followed by a quietly spoken "Let's find out." Is it the real Len, also involved with entity-fighting? Is he a figment of Tamsine's dreams, someone she fantasizes about family-making with, or is he someone close to her romantically? One thing Cat is certain about: if this is the real Len Denton, he'll act accordingly. If the presence is a facet of the dreaming woman's mind, he won't. That's her mental process and estimation, anyway.

"Hey," Cat greets with a smile taking residence and spreading out across her face, "this is a good dream, Tamsine." She doesn't comment on whether or not she visited the 'porter in dreams before. No real need to. "You aren't in trouble. We're here, instead, to offer an opportunity. We know where a large amount of something the entity really likes is, and we plan to make it stop existing."
Helena offers Tamsine a wave of her fingertips, bt she's keeping an eye on the Len figure, for the most part. This is Cat's show, as far as she's concerned, and lets the brunette do the talking.

Good dream or not, talk of the 'the entity' makes it less good in Tamsine's mind. She frowns and glances toward the water. The small child waves, as does Len, and Tamsine waves back with a smile — but then they fade away, until there is no trace of them having been in the water at all.

The teleporter turns her dark eyes back to the two women. "I don't understand," she says simply, with a slight shake of her head and furrowing of her brows. "Something it likes?"

She watches Len and the child as they wave, then disappear, before attention returns to Tamsine. "Boyfriend?" she asks with a slight grin. "Nice." But then she turns serious, somber. "It's a drug called Refrain," Cat tells her, "forty-thousand doses of it at a warehouse in New Jersey. Soon it'll be moved out of state, and if it does people who use it might make a trail for the entity all the way out to Texas." Her words are quietly spoken. "My friend can make it get really cold, which should cause the glass vials to shatter."

"That'd be me." Helena notes absently, adding with a grimace, "God, that is more of him then I ever wanted to see." She finally tears her eyes away from the Len dream-figure and refocuses on Tamsine. "Hi."

Tamsine listens to Cat, brows knitting together, clearly not following why the woman is telling her about this drug and the implications of its shipment out of the state. Her eyes dart over to Helena, frowning slightly at the blonde's comment regarding Len. "You could knock next time and I'll make sure everyone in my dream is adequately dressed to receive your presence, miss," she says, but there's a slight smirk to show she's not really that irritated. "You're lucky it's my dream or it could have been a lot more graphic. I'd suggest knocking before entering any young men's dreams if you're that easily offended."

Back to business, she shakes her head at Cat. "I know what Refrain is. What I don't get is why you're telling me about this."

"These forty-thousand doses are at a warehouse in New Jersey," Cat explains. "We'd like to get in there and do our work quietly. Without making a large spectacle. Maybe without the people keeping the drugs even knowing we were ever there. That's what we'd like your help with, Tamsine. The in and the out, you're a teleporter."

"Now, I realize this isn't your cup of tea," Cat admits, "but it'll save lives, keep the drug contained to New York state longer and deny the entity a chance to go after more people and get stronger. I think," she asserts with her features taking on a grim confidence, "you'd like to strike back at it. Here's a solid chance."

Helena isn't a prude as such, she's just not keen on having to look at half-naked old men. But she wisely keeps her mouth shut and focuses on the conversation at hand. She doesn't really have any thing to say, either - Cat's pushing their agenda quite well enough."

"I… I can't just get you into a place I've never seen. I can only 'see' the location if I know it really well. If it's somewhere I've never been, that I can't envision, then you might end up in a room with people all pointing weapons at you — or a block away in the middle of the street or something. I can only 'see' where I'm going if I know it - like if I picture my old office or my living room — I can tell if it's safe," Tamsine says softly and uncertainly. "Getting you out and back to a safe place, that'd be easy, but I don't know about in… I can try. If I go and see the warehouse from the outside, it might help. But I've only teleported anyone besides myself…" she counts on her hand, "four or five times."

"We've got photos of the interior," Cat tells her with a nod, "which you can look at and pick a spot. I think that would work," she suggests. "And we can certainly be someplace where you can see the outside with your own eyes before we go in, too." Concentration is applied, the panmnesiac seeking to draw forth images of the inside from memory and display them for Tamsine as props.

"M-maybe, it might, I don't know. I spent most my life hiding this ability, not honing it, you know?" Tamsine says uncertainly, as she blinks at the images that Cat shows her like a slide show in the dreamscape. "When do you need this to happen? I'm… we're …" she gestures to the water where the cowboy was playing with the child not so long ago, now an ephemeral memory. "We're getting married Sunday, so timing is a bit of an issue for me, though if I can help, I will." She frowns and wraps her arms around herself as the shore breeze picks up, her red hair whipping across her face. "You should know, though — if anything chases us out on the way back, it can follow through the portal. I can't control how long it's open … or at least I haven't been able to yet."

"It's not far from the city," Cat provides, "we could go this morning. Time is a bit critical, the shipment may soon be on the way out of state. About the portal and someone following," Cat ponders with a glance to Helena, "we could bring along someone who can discourage such behavior. And… you could always make a stiff wind keep them busy until it closes."

Then back to Tamsine. "How long does the portal usually stay open on its own?"

She apparently has no trouble at all asking for the help of Len Denton's fiance. Does she even care if the cowboy finds out? Maybe Cat believes he'd be in favor of the operation.

"I think the more people we bring, the harder it will be for Tamsine. Best keep things simple. Assuming she still wants to help." Helena shoves her hands in her pockets, apparently willing to roll with whatever happens.

"It seems to depend on the size of where we're going," Tamsine says with a shrug. "A few seconds to maybe a minute? I haven't timed it. But they can't see the portal… only I can… and only if I know where I'm going." She chews her lower lip for a moment thoughtfully. "I can help… if I can get you in, I can get you out — sending you back to somewhere I know is the easy part."

"So…" Cat speculates with her voice trailing off briefly, "we could have a portal from Manhattan right to the location and back easily, perhaps." She doesn't push, her tone remains even and businesslike, quietly confident. Tamsine hasn't said yes, but also hasn't said no. Easy does it, don't spook the 'porter.

"Gather whoever's going … a safe place to leave from and come back to. You can meet at my apartment," Tamsine says, though that could be dangerous if anyone followed them back through the portal. She murmurs the address, then tilts her head. "Can you remember that? It's in the phone book if not, under T Whitaker." She doesn't know, of course, that she's speaking to someone who never forgets. "What time?"

A slight grin spreads across the 5' 8" brunette's features as she turns to look at Helena with amusement in her eyes. "I don't know." The weather witch is asked "Do you think I can remember?" On turning back to Tamsine, Cat offers "Pick one."

Helena grins. "Cat's like an elephant. With the not forgetting. That is not to infer there is any comparison in size, weight, neurosis, or having a trunk. But yeah, her brain's like a steel trap." She then adds a bit whimsically, "Any time is a good time for vandalism of an illegal substance."

Tamsine nods. "Nine in the morning? Len has a fitting for his tux so he will be gone and won't be around to disapprove…" she says, perhaps a little nervously. "He'd be happy to throw a wrench in the dream guy's works, but I don't think he'd be happy if he knew I was helping in something dangerous." She glances first at Cat, then at Helena. "How many am I expecting? So I know who to look for knocking on my door."

"I do sometimes travel with a huge panther, though," she remarks with a chuckle to Helena's analogy. "And it's just us," Cat replies, "Nine o'clock. We'll be there." Not too early, she'll have had coffee and maybe even memorized the Times by then. "Thank you, Tamsine."

Helena amends, "Might be one more. Pyrokinetic, who if available, might be of assistance. But probably just me and Cat." She adds for good measure, "Yes. Thank you very much for helping us. Hopefully we can do a lot of damage to the circulation of this drug."

"You're welcome… I'll do my best," Tamsine says, perhaps a touch nervously. She's only used her power as a flight mechanism before — this will be the first assertive use of teleporting. "I'll see you … in the morning then," she says with a smile. She turns to walk away, toward the shore line, where Len and the small child appear once more, continuing their antics and frolicking as if they had never faded from sight.


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