Board Meeting of Two

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif peyton2_icon.gif

Scene Title Board Meeting of Two
Synopsis Peyton and Cardinal discuss Redbird and Endgame business matters ranging from mysterious job applicants, comatose dreamwalkers, and possible double crossers — all in a day's work.
Date December 2, 2010

Redbird Security


After squaring Jolene away with the secretary Jo to complete her employment forms, Peyton slips downstairs, her footfalls light on the stairs, though she makes no attempt to sneak up on Cardinal and whatever he may be doing in the basement. A clearing of her throat before she hits the bottom steps is meant to alert him to her presence.

“I probably totally screwed that up, I know, and I’m sorry,” she says quietly, eyes down and dark brows knit together with worry. “If you want her not to work here — I can find something for her to do away from here. If you don’t want her on our books, I’ll make her a personal assistant or something stupid like that so she’s not connected to Redbird.”

Peyton leans against the wall, still not looking up at him. “I suck at being the boss, boss,” she says, a slight smile curving her lips upward in a humorless attempt at comic relief.

“You didn’t fuck anything up…” Cardinal looks up as she walks in, shaking his head as he steps away from the filing cabinets and over towards her. One hand reaches out to rest on the wall above and to one side of her head, and he leans in a bit, saying quietly, “You’re doing great. And whether or not she’s telling the truth… we need to know that. So we keep her close, and watch her.”

“Okay,” Peyton says softly, finally glancing up at him. “You okay? Monica came by, told us about the Institute looking for Delia. I … I don’t know what to do. Molly’s still comatose too. Constantine’s been keeping them alive, but this can’t be a long-term care for them — I mean, they probably need better medical care than just nutrition and water.”

“Good, good…” A breath’s drawn in, exhaled, Cardinal’s eyes closing, “…we need to get Delia awake, definitely. Molly, too. Maybe if we got someone to fall asleep near Delia, volunteered to take Refrain to make them an easier target, we could lure her back near her body. Jaiden might volunteer.”

She tips her head up. “Would that work? I don’t understand oneiromancy at all,” she confesses. “If he doesn’t…” She really doesn’t want to volunteer to go into a dreamscape at all — the Nightmare Man left her with enough emotional scars to last a while, but… She shrugs. “I can help if you want. But Jaiden is probably a better choice because he knows her better. I don’t know that my brain is all that enticing a target, right?” Another smirk.

“I don’t think Molly’s issue is anything like Delia’s — hers has to do with whatever Matt’s up to, so I don’t know — Aric said he’d try something again, I think,” she adds and then reaches to tap his arm. “So you’re not staying, right?”

The question is reluctantly asked; her long lashes veiling her eyes as they drop again. “It’s okay if you need to go again. I didn’t mean — I know you need time. It’s okay. I’ll suck it up and deal.”

I don’t fucking know, it’s worth a try, though,” admits Cardinal in somewhat wry tones, his head shaking a little, “She’s wandering around in people’s dreams acting lost, though, and if she was back in one piece I might… well. She’d be useful.”

At the question, then, he shakes his head slightly, “Not… yet. Liz wants to take the lead for now anyway, and I’m willing to let her. There’s a few things I’m gonna be working on, though, if just so Hana doesn’t show up at the Library again and punch me or something.”

“Show up and punch you?” Peyton says with a little amusement sparkling in her sable eyes. “Well, I’ll try to keep things running here, but my business sense isn’t as good as my fashion sense, so don’t be surprised if I screw things up.”

She steps aside, nodding upstairs. “I should get back up and make some phone calls — is there anything else you needed me for?”

“She already shook me,” Cardinal admits with a smirk, his head shaking just a little bit, “Apparently I’m not allowed to take a break for longer’n a few weeks before people start getting pissy.”

When she steps back, he turns towards her, “…see if you can get a hold of any of the ex-Company contacts we have, see if any of them can identify any agents by the name Lene gave. Keep Delia here, try out that plan if you can… let Aric do whatever he wants to try and get Molly up and running.”

The to-list gets a weary nod. Peyton looks like she could take a break herself — though the odds are she’d decline if offered, anyway. “All right. Maybe Monica can head back to Pollepel or Jaiden or Abby can send a message through the network. I know that I saw Agent Ryans there when I was checking in on Wes, of all people. Wonder how he likes to be the hunted instead of the hunter,” she says a little bitterly, unaware that the sleeping redheaded beauty is the man’s daughter.

“I’ll run that name by Elle, though I don’t trust her to remember much, and … to be honest, I don’t really know if I trust her not to harass Jolene for personal reasons. As much as I understand the need to know more about family…” Peyton shrugs and trails off, heading to the stairwell. “Say goodbye before you go?”

At the mention of Ryans, Cardinal’s lips purse in a momentary grimace. No fond memories there. “Pollepel… that where they’ve all shuffled off to? Alright, sounds like a plan.” As she walks away, he watches her for a moment before sighing, head bobbing in a brief nod, “Alright.”

Pey glances over her shoulder. “Yeah, apparently has a name other than ‘that island with the castle on it,’” she teases, since that’s how she referred to it after the riots. “Don’t repeat it to anyone not Ferry, all right? Not Elle, not Harmony, not anyone who doesn’t already know — which, oh shit, that reminds me.”

She turns to step back down the stairs she’s climbed. “Lola.”

She chews her lower lip and shakes her head. “I don’t know what it’s about but she might be playing more than one side. Wes said she was stalking his boat one night, and then asked to buy information on the Ferry. He didn’t know who it was but he met up with her to see what it was about and had me peeking in. Turns out this Sara was Lola. She wouldn’t tell him if she needed their help or was offering her services, that his job in the deal was just to give her the information.” Peyton sighs. “It’s being handled, but — don’t trust her any farther than you can throw her — maybe even less. She’s a skinny bitch, you can probably throw her pretty far.”

That gives Cardinal pause, a frown flashing across his expression. “She’s playing bodyguard to Liz, supposedly… let her know? If she’s got some sort’ve side business going on, Liz should know about it.”

Peyton quirks a brow at the fact Liz requires a bodyguard, though she can guess why given what he said before he went on his walkabout. “Okay. Don’t confront Lola on it — it might be something harmless, but … just don’t give any information about the Ferry to anyone — Monica knows because they took down her convoy, Jaiden and Wes are working with them, me because I’m eyes and ears, but … the less people who know the better of course. For their own safety as well as the Ferry’s.”

She hesitates at the foot of the stairs, then gives a small wave, before turning to head back up to the business above, presumably to find Liz before the other woman heads back to work, and to begin the tasks asked of her.

“Okay.” Cardinal watches her go, then sinks back against the wall himself, gaze sweeping over the basement, lips pursing in a thin line. “I need more people like her.”

“Not enough people listen to me.”


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License