Participants:
| Scene Title | Bamf! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Scotch looked for Phoenix, and Phoenix found him. |
| Date | September 17, 2009 |
St. Joseph's Lutheran Church - Staten Island
The night is dark, hell, even feels moreso what with the situation on the island. Still light shows in the sanctuary of the old and overrun Lutheran church of St. Joe's which serves for the mission of Pastor Ryan McCoy. Lanterns serving better than what electronics he can get running here. Cheaper as well. Still the door to the back which everyone enters from, has been left unlocked a little longer than usual. No, luckily the place is left empty except for the Pastor.
Scotch himself is clad in a usual of a t-shirt and jeans, and given the chill of the fall air that clings to the old walls of the church, a dark coloured hoodie as well. One hand checks behind his back, reaching for something and concealing it. After all, you never know who you can trust these days.
Messages are easy to pass on Staten Island if you know the right people. And for all that Helena's out and about without a body guard (Adam would tsk!), she did persuade Delilah to come with her on this particular adventure, though granted, she might not have had to twist her arm very hard. The church is entered cautiously, giving the door a little nudge to sort of peer in before she steps inside. "Hello?" she calls out.
Delilah could pass for a bodyguard, though. In some circles, and under certain circumstances. But really, it is two young ladies out and about in the dark of night, and it is what it is. When Helena nudges the door open and peeks in, Delilah, being several inches higher up, peeks in above Helena, but only just. Helena gives a greeting to the quiet, but Delilah shatters it with an exclamation as she follows after. Her skirt under her jacket is stark in its colors against the backdrop.
"Gaw, I hate churches at night. Dodgy as all hell. I half expect to turn'round and see Quasimodo."
"Ain't no quasimodo here. Sides this place is one of the safer places to meet." comes the words from the front of the room. However as they come in he's rising up from his perch up on where the Altar and pulpit have been placed. Steps are heard even if Scotch himself is cast in some shadow. There's a look to both of the women and he is nodding slightly, coming more into the lantern light so as to be visible. "You have business here this late?" or are you part of some spook agency or human hate group looking for trouble? Though sending two girls-no offense-would be a way to remain under the radar.
Helena cocks her head, stepping in a bit further, and does it suddenly seem not quite so cold in here? That's the advantage of being at Helena's side, the relative temperature is always pleasant. "Maybe?" she says. "I was told that someone might be looking for me or mine here." A brief smile is flashed his way, but she's tense, and mindful of the other young woman beside her.
Delilah rocks slightly on her heels, head tilting to try and get a better look at the source of the voice. The light knicking of gum in the back of her mouth comes before she speaks again. "You the man of this house of the Lord?" Dee's question is a bit more familiar, but it stays tense within the pause afterwards. "We might be looking for you…" So, are you?- is the question of the moment.
Scotch nods ever so slightly. "Alright." so well that answers that question. Perhaps he though this would go down differently like secret meetings, and men in trenchcoats, but then not a lot of folk really pay attention out here to the goings on of them on the Island. As far as he knows anyway. A look is given over towards Delilah and there is a nod, hands shoved into the front pocket that all hooded sweatshirts come equipped with. "I would be him." And so then this must be "Phoenix?"
Helena cocks her head to the side and studies him thoughtfully, her brows raising. Whatever it is she's thinking, she doesn't give it voice, instead she asks. "And what would you say, Pastor, if I told you we should rise up?" Given it's the buzz phrase of the very same group mentioned, it might confirm his query. Apparently Helena's down with the Socratic Method today.
Delilah casts a glance over her shoulder towards the door, head turning back to settle on the pastor once Helena asks her own question in response to his question of affirmation. When they go out looking for people it can either go well, or go badly- and Delilah hasn't seen a bad one yet, but there's always a first time. Though he's a pastor, right? Like Joe. And Joe is perfectly nice! Like some sort of Labrador with bushy eyebrows. This one, however- she's not sure what he is yet.
Scotch is quiet for but a moment, before he's letting his eyes go between the two of them. Yeah he's nice when he wants to be, however he has been known to be a real cuss when he needs to. And so his hands remain jammed effectively in his pocket-pouch before he's kissing his teeth. "Well, if someone said that, then we have the right meeting." and with that one hand comes out as he moves to cross the distance, half way into the well lit area of the sanctuary. "Ryan McCoy. Most folks here call me either Pastor, or Scotch."
Helena takes him in when he comes into the light, and for a split second she looks at Delilah. Whatever passes between the two women is probably only for them to understand, but then Helena offers her hand. "I'm Helena." she says simply enough. "This is Del." No full name, not even when restricting it to just the first, in the event that Delilah doesn't want that information given. Scotch can now possibly feel the sudden comfortable zone the relative temperature's fallen into, which Delilah gets to enjoy whenever she's in Hel's company. Del and Hel. Heh.
"'Allo." Delilah offers that much, letting Helena introduce her somewhat when she does herself. Though she catches Helena's look back at her, all she gives back is a tiny smile. The expression goes for meeting the pastor as well. What he gets is a polite smile while Lilah stands a half-step behind Helena's side. Sort of like a tall, redheaded bodyguard, sort of not. She certainly doesn't seem to give off an air of intimidation.
Scotch raises a brow at the look shared between the two girls, but still it seems he's not going to comment on it. "Hey." offered back to Delilah. Alright then so he has names, and it seems everything is kosher. After the shake he's offering it to Delilah as well. "Sorry if I seemed sly or shady as fuck right there." Yes he's cursing…in a church. "But, you can't tell these days." a cough which he does manage to look away from them to let out. 'Damned walls..So..How does this work?" a cock of his head. "Exactly?"
"Sly and shady as fuck are not bad things to be." Helena admits, easily enough. "May we?" she indicates the pews, wanting to to have a seat while there's chatting to be had. "Well. We ask you some questions. Look a bit into your history. Make sure there's nothing there that might make us second-guess any reasons for letting you into the clubhouse, so to speak. I'm kind of blunt, and in that light, I'll put something out on the table: are you Evolved, Scotch?"
Dee shakes his hand with a dose of enthusiasm better suited for something far more exciting. "Shady is as shady does." Which at least sounds right. As Helena does her duty and asks the burning question, Delilah folds her hands behind the curve of her back, watching Scotch with a piqued interest all of a sudden. To say she does not like hearing about all of the different abilities would be a rather bad lie. "This is like some funky job interview, isn't it?" The redhead grins to herself and hardly keeps a chuckle down.
Scotch nods "I'd offer you coffee, but it'll take a long while to make. Oven's on the fritz." A shrug all the same before the Pastor is reaching to one of the connected pew chairs, which is unhooked from the more solid pews. A turn of it so he's not straddling the thing. Motion to the pew in front of him to sit. "That's fine, though I will let you know, I got some turns in there, an I'm likely not going to let em be known just yet, if you understand." A pause for a second. and then he's nodding. "I am." doesn't mean he's going to start showing magic tricks. A slight look back towards Del. "Yeah. Save one person knowing too much here, an bein rotten, doesn't really end well, does it?"
Helena grins a little bit. "I could promise you Del and I are both clean, but words don't mean much. I can show you this, though," She tilts her chin upward, revealing the scar just under her jaw, "And promise you that I'm going to do my damndest never get to put away like that ever again." It still doesn't prove anything, but well. They may have come to him…but in a way, he's coming to them. "I'm guessing you're not Registered? We have both. For some, it's an advantage."
"And for some …an obvious disadvantage." Delilah adds, arms having crossed over her stomach when she sat down. "Hey, I'm squeaky clean." She also adds, wriggling in her seat and eyeing the two. And then she goes promptly back to examining the surroundings, eyes elsewhere for a few moments.
"Nope." Scotch replies evenly. "Not registered, and I don't ever plan on being registered-really." A shake of his head "No offense, but if it came out that there was an Evolved Pastor here, I could easily lose my sponsorship and the mission would fail, putting some folks out in the cold, as well as I would have who knows how many hate groups looking for my ass." Don't even get him started on a few of the churches that have already adopted this mantra. "Do I need to prove it to you?" He's half wondering if, the moment he does, do something if the room is going to immediately fill up with agents. "Sides, Not much of a fan, of the government." Despite the fact he served in the military for some time.
"And we're not in the habit of making people. I'm registered against my will; it came with the incarceration." Helena shrugs, but it's clear it bothers her. "When we look into your background, are we going to find anything that might make us raise our eyebrows at you?" She can't help but add, after a brief look at Delilah, "If you want to show us what you can do, be our guest."
"I'll show, if one of you shows. Fair." Perhaps more proof in the pudding. Besides there aren't little buttons that go off when you use your ability or anything like that, right? Still Scotch looks back towards Helena for a second, and he rubs his jaw. "Depends. How good are your people looking?" He might as well ask, before giving them anything other than what they will find under Ryan McCoy.
"Good man. You're looking at the right fan-club." Dee taps a finger to her cheek, watching the pastor curiously. "There are some clergy around here that operate while registered, though. Not that I'm trying to suggest anything- just that it has happened." But look at that, it got poor Joe MIA. "I'm not registered either- when it happened I almost did, but then I almost killed someone on the street, and- well- if I can do things like that, I'll end up carted away." Powerful powers all around, tonight.
"I call not It." Not showing him hers, thank youuu.
"I was gonna say," Helena can't help turning to grin at Delilah, "I'm not entirely sure Scotch here wants to see dancing monkeys and pink elephants." Helena's publically declared her ability, but that doesn't make it any less neat to watch; she holds out her hands, and within moments, a fluffy white cloud has formed in the air between them. Absently, she makes it take on simple shapes: a ball, an airplane, a ducky. "I want to make a pirate ship." she announces, "One day." Then, "Weather control. Atmokinesis. I uhh, didn't think it would be appropriate to make it rain inside a house of the Lord, and all."
Scotch is quiet for a moment, before he's nodding. "Yeah I don't think I would quite appreciate rain, you know..Nor anything else that might make me react foolishly." Though there's a look back before he is nodding. "Let me get the door one minute. Just to make sure no one else stumbles in here." And without even waiting, there's a sound, like a bug zapper catching something, as the only thing left from Scotch is the overwhelming scent of sulfur, and the whisper blackish smoke, in the shape of a man.
"Damn straight he doesn't. Oh, a ducky-" Delilah has scooted closer since Helena grinned at her, and now one hand reaches out to put fingers in the duck-cloud. "You should go out and make clouds into shapes when they float past kiddie hospita-"
Lilah jumps to her feet once she realizes what happened(which is not long, mind you), arms halfway into the air overhead. "BAMF!" Omg, a real Nightcr- oops, is my fangirl showing? The redhead's arms zip back down to her sides, pinned there by an invisible rope while she glances back at Helena- quite sheepishly.
Helena has her hands to her mouth, as she is quite literally giggling. She's not a comic nerd, but come on, who hasn't heard of Nightcrawler? That's exactly what she's thinking. "Now come back!" she calls out, as delighted as if she were an eight year old. "Do it again!"
"Yeah, I thought the same damned thing too when it first happened." comes the call from the BACK of the sanctuary where he's locked the door. And then the light crackle is heard, before in he pops again back to where he was sitting, though he's standing and a little closer to both of the girls. And slowly, he is easing himself down, before a brow is raised. the whisps of smoke still clinging to him and clothes. A brush of his hand. "Mind you, it was more embarrassing then." And with that Scotch is looking back "How deep are you guys going to look, I need to know."
Dee's hands are together, palm to palm as she tilts them and peers back at Helena with a clear 'oohhhh, can we keep him, pleeease' look on her face. "I never thought I'd actually see someone play out an honest to god 'bamf'." She says as she plops back down, eyes on Scotch. Still smiling at it. "If you are so keen on asking, that tells me you have some things to hide." Her smile half-fades as she leans back into the pew, eyes moving to Helena for a second. "Which is neither good nor bad, technically."
Helena inclines her head in acknowledgement to Dee. "We've got some pretty good resources for standard investigative background checks…of the law enforcement flavor, but we've also got some significant technopathic assistance on our side." That's as specific as Helena's going to get. "I'd apologize for the invasion of your privacy, but truth be told, it's so easy to slip…" she trails off.
"Its not a bad thing. I am curious so I know, what I need to have you look for." Simple there. At least he's being honest. And eyes slide between them both as one hand brushes along his jeans for a second. "Its alright. I figure with a group, like Phoenix, you need all bases covered to make sure I am real." And not some mole "All my college, and military records are under the name Ryan McCoy, should say I am from Clovis, New Mexico." and then he's leaning back a little further "The rest is under Charlie Jay, from Abilene, Texas. And will go as far as High school. I'm probably listed as dead or something." there, cat and bag. Gone.
Even Dee knows when to hush, and she does, fingers tracing along her chin and eyes on the pastor. There is obvious curiosity, but of course she is not going to be the one to pry with a stranger that could leave her in the depths of the Yukon or some such.
"I appreciate you being honest." Helena says quietly. "Can I ask what prompted you to develop an alias?" She has hers, but then, her reasons had she the need to explain them, are probably pretty obvious.
"Kinda scared the town I was living in, at the time. Shit I mean it was about like twenty or some odd years ago when it happened. No one had ever seen anything like it. Couldn't control it at the time, so I ran like hell." A roll of his shoulders "My dad thought I was a fucking weirdo anyway." And Scotch offers a dry laugh there. "Shit. Didn't know better, I guess."
"It's not a bad reason." Why Helena should feel compelled to validate him is a mystery, but she does. "It works like this. Give us a couple of days. If everthing turns up clean when we vet you, you're going to get a package. It'll have a phone in it, a disposable that's untraceable. You'll start getting access to network messages for Phoenix operatives. You also might want to keep your eye out on the internet, everyone will be seeing something from us very soon. Sound good?"
"Just what I needed to do at the time." Said simply before he's looking back to the girls, and there is a nod back to Helena "Of course. I do have a carry permit for my pistol." So he does come armed, and of course there is the shotgun upstairs, which is being left unsaid. Scotch rises up there before he's nodding to Helena. Hand back out for a shake, as he motions to the door. "I can show you out..Be careful. Neighborhood's rough. I'd say you can stay here, but I don't know if you all trust me yet, an I wouldn't blame ya, if you didn't."
"I wouldn't worry about us. We girls can handle ourselves around here." Delilah only pipes up when it seems that the meeting is drawing to a close; she stands and shifts to stand in the aisle, watching Helena and Scotch exchange the last words before he is vetted over by Phoenix. "I hope this works out, pastor. You seem like a good guy." And he can teleport- which isn't exactly something that they're overstocked on.