Breakfast With The Dean

Participants:

helena_icon.gif minea_icon.gif

Scene Title Breakfast With The Dean
Synopsis Minea's breakfast with Helena brings about conversation that touch on the do's and don'ts, the rules of the house, Teo and life after defection.
Date June 18, 2009

Village Renaissance Building, Cat's Penthouse

Arriving by any of four elevators, visitors will find they open into three foot corridors facing wide double doors made from sturdy southern pine which swing outward and have the strongest locks available. The stairs lead to single doors, also outward opening, at the end of three foot corridors. Entry requires both a key and a keycard; other security measures are a video camera and voice communication terminal at all doors. The 4th Street side has floor to ceiling windows interrupted only by the access points. Cream colored curtains are normally kept closed.

This level has enough space for sixteen apartments. There is an office space with reception area, conference room, and executive office; a room for archery practice and other forms of physical exercise; a very well appointed kitchen and dining area; a music zone with an array of instruments, electronics, and amplifiers; an entertainment area with an HD set covering an entire stretch of wall from floor to ceiling; a locked room where security footage for the building is recorded and can be monitored; a laundry room; a staircase for roof access; central air and heating; the main bedroom and a few smaller guest rooms; plush deep wine carpet everywhere except the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms; and track lighting everywhere overhead. The light levels can be lowered or raised in the entire place, or selectively by segments. The overall decor suggests the occupant is a woman.


The next morning after Minnie wakes up, she'll find herself invited up to the penthouse for breakfast. It looks like Helena made it herself - there's eggs, bacon, pancakes, and toast. Helena will load up even if Minea doesn't, which will in turn lead to the discussion they're meant to have. "I wanted to talk to you about the options we have available to hide you." Helena explains. "I know some changes may not be available to you until some things work themselves out, and some you may not be interested in, but you'll know what your choices are."

Minea had showered, skipped washing her hair and still wound for at least one more day. She could get away with that. Even she knew that you try to keep the stiches dry. But the invitation up for a meal that she wouldn't have to prepare herself was one that she A) wasn't going to turn up and B) She at least wanted to hear about these options. She could give them that. She was dropping everything they needed into their laps after all. She was owed.

So the older woman takes up a seat, a moderate amount of food on her plate. The shock of yesterday worn off, and looking only a little tight around the eyes as she nearly gulps down a glass of Orange Juice. "What changes wouldn't be available to me and yes, i'll listen. I can always listen at least"

"We have a number of safe houses we can keep you in, temporarily. I won't go into where they are. This admittedly, is one of the better equipped ones. In the interim, we could work on developing a new identity for you, for the aftermath. We may conceivably be able to get you out of the country, and we may also be able to provide you with a complete makeover of your physical appearance." Helena pretty much lays it all down.

"Identification isn't necessary. I have three separate sets that the Company doesn't know about. I can alter the pictures if necessary" Minea points out." A handful of Advil is tossed back with some water, to cut down on the throbbing on the side of her head. "I can't leave the country. Not yet. I need to expose them. Both of them. Goodman is trusting, does and did trust me to carry on what he was trying to do. The agent who came from the future, she said that an agent in the company got out with files, lots of files. It brought the company down to their knees. Now unless you have some other magically appearing company agent who's brought files with her… I can't leave the country till this all over." Her physical appearance. That garners a frown. "Salvatore Bianco?"
Helena inclines her head. "As I said, this is for when this is all over." There's a pause. "You do know Goodman is dead, don't you?"

"I do. Arthur Petrelli. They had a telepath, or so I was told, who was the one who actually wiped me. Strong telepath. Doesn't surprise me in the least that it was done." She looks down at her pancake before digging a fork into it. "So, between now and then. My options? Because my life is quite firmly in the hands of phoenix. If Liz hadn't have gotten me away like she did…" It goes unsaid what might have happened.

Helena admits, "We can hole you up in a particular safe house, or we can move you around. We've got locations all over the city."

"How safe am I staying in one place? Last I knew, Company doesn't have the Walker system. It's offline or something of the sort. Am I better off staying here, or am I better off some place else? I want your honest opinion Dean. Don't sugarcoat it. You didn't pull punches at the January meetings"

Helena considers. "Before I answer, how much does Arthur know about you? Is he looking to come after you as well? Staying in one place can be beneficial as every time you move you're at risk for being spotted, but at the same time, moving makes it more difficult to pin you down. Speaking in the interest of Phoenix, having you on hand here would be pretty ideal, as I'd have access to your input. You want to take Pinehearst down and you're an experienced law enforcement officer, plus you have insight on how the Company is run, which may in turn help us with speculation on how Pinehearst might be running things if we needed to. It'd be dumb of me not to take advantage of that."

"I don't know frankly, how much he knows about me. I had people telling me it was him that ordered Goodman to wipe me, but I got files that say otherwise, that it was Denton and Goodman who ordered. Beyond that time, there wasn't another attempt on my life, not until yesterday. Whether that was company or Pinehearst, I don't know." yeah, food, not gonna eat it. The pancake summarily pushed away a bit. From the sounds of it. Rogue agent is the least of his worries as I have nothing on Pinehearst save for collaborations between agents and Pinehearst and I surely don't have an evolved ability for him to steal. But, you never know. I managed to piece together stuff that others hadn't that were all circumstantial and co-incidental and give them a conspiracy, scifi drama turned real. Who knows"

"Then I think it would be safe for you, as well as tactically advantageous for our efforts that you remain here, provided that you're willing to follow our protocols to make sure that if you do decide to step out of the building, you're not spotted on the in or the out."

"What's the protocols then? What's the house rules? I'm not a stranger to being cooped up in small dank buildings for weeks on end. Long as I have books, or if I'm lucky, access to the internet, I'm good. A gym if it's possible. I have access to funds that the company can't trace. I was making plans for the company fall, preparing to go on the run. When things do go down, there's a list of people that I need safe. Agents who are innocent, and have been working for the good and not for the worse. Innocents in that place. I want them taken by the ferryman and hidden safe from persecution"

Helena will spend some time going over the ins and outs of movement to and from the safe house. Internet access is available, as are books, though she'll have to get Cat's permission to use the exercise room since it's in the penthouse proper. "I don't have the authority to make promises on the Ferrymen's behalf. In what ways are these agents innocent? They never killed anyone? Never participated in bag and tags?"

"As in, they harbor reservations about the company. THey don't know about level five, or are brand new. Like Magnes Varlane. Teo's had to reign him in a few times. After his display in Japan, they visited him and he's being trained now in exchange for a pardon for the damage and laws her broke oversea's. So he'll have better control over it and there won't be a repeat. Like Veronica Sawyer, who was Brian Winter's, you know him as Brian Fulk, partner. The death of Kat at the hand of Adam Monroe I think put a doubt in her mind about the good of the company. Last, Lawrence Cook. My partner. I trust him implicitly. He's a good guy, woo'd by the company because of his ability. Enhanced senses. Without them and the medication they can provide I'm sure he'd have been dead in a road or going crazy in a psych ward by now"

"Give me a written list of the agents you want us to consider helping and I'll see what can be done." Helena says. "Like I said, I can't make promises at this stage, but I'm willing to look into it."

"Just those three" No more, No less. "A couple days ago I would have put Len on the list. Not now" There's a grumpy pissed off look on her face as she picks up her fork again to poke at the pancakes. "God this had better be worth what I've just done. There's no going back. It's a bullet in the head for what I did. Phoenix better keep up to the other half of what Cat said. I know her parents are in Arthurs hands. But still. If just the company goes down, then Pinehearst will rise and the world is fucked"

"I have a good idea how much." murmurs Helena. Though truth be told, a world where Pinehearst stood tall, wasn't that bad for most people. Just a miserable few.

Minea sighs. "I should go see to I guess, about having someone take me to a hidey hole, so I can get to one of my stashes. There's a greyhound bus depot" She fires off the location. "The lockers there, I have some things stashed. If you have someone who's willing to go with me, it's an old one, before company, when I first got into New York. I got credit cards and ID's and the like, I need those so I can at least get some clothes and stuff ordered and sent to wherever you all can have parcels sent and brought here"

Helena is a little confused. "Minea, this building is a hidey-hole. You were on the safe house floor. But if you need to go out for a pickup, then yeah, I can send someone out with you if you want backup."

"It is? Sorry, you'll have to pardon me, when Elisabeth hustled me in, i was shot at and bleeding from a gunshot wound. You paraded so many people through the room" Minea shakes her head. "Swank hidey hole here Dean. What did you rob a bank?"

Helena grins. "I don't own the place." she says, but doesn't go into specifics. "The whole reason for those in and out protocols for here is because the upper levels are a safe house. That's why the floor you're currently living on and this penthouse are wired up.

"Oh" Well. That make sense. There's a look of profound respect. "You guys aren't such baby terrorists after all. I got a question though. I haven't seen Teo. He's always had his hand in every single pot when I last dealt with you guys. He part ways?"

"I don't consider us terrorists at all," she holds up a hand, "But I'm not interested in arguing the semantics." A pause. "Teo. He's…temporarily parted ways. If I ask you not to inquire, would you be willing to respect that? If it becomes important I will fill you in. There are things going on with him that are very confusing at initial assessment."

Uhoh. Parted ways. "When… did he part ways?" There's a curious look on Minea's face.

Helena cocks her head. "'Parted ways' may not be the right word." Helena admits. "He's doing some…sensitive work. Not everyone has a full disclosure on what's going on. It was some weeks ago. He hasn't broken trust."

Helena amends, "Well, not the group's at large. It's complicated."

"He hopped into my car a week and change ago. At a light in Chinatown. He didn't look like him, he looks like someone else. But it was him. He passed all the tests."

Helena nods. "Yes." she says. "That was him." She leaves it at that and repeats, "It's complicated."

"So when I say .. he wanted blueprints for police stations… particularly ones that dealt with SCOUT…." Minea's studying the blonde, closely.

"Then I tell you I can't talk about it. He has his reasons." Helena's got pretty inscrutable poker face. "If you're trying to ask me about the deaths he's connected to, I'll tell you this much: we weren't aware of them, and we're not countenancing them. That is the extent of what I will tell you, Minea, and please don't ask further questions. If it's important for you to know, we'll tell you."

No, she wasn't asking about the deaths. "Tell him I got his blueprints. He wants em, I can take him to them. As many as I could get my hands on. He better not have fucked me over. What I couldn't' get copies of, I took pictures and pieced them together and printed them out. Safer for you to tell him that instead of me getting on a phone. Company has their own technopaths too. Gitleman's just the best one I know, but not the only" But she'll leave it at that.

Helena nods. "I have the means to contact him, but I also need to ask you not to say anything to anyone else about the fact that I do. Things are very volatile around him right now."

"Understood. Caravaggio is what we called him. Einliter and I. If you want to mention him, then call him that" The breakfast on her own plate, barely touched is sighed at. "Think you could have someone tomorrow morning tag along behind me? In case they see someone following me. They can fall back, and not get caught. I shouldn't be moving about within the first 24 hours. That's the prime time to be caught"

Helena considers a moment. "That shouldn't be a problem." she says. "Would you be picking up the materials for Teo? I could give them to him, if you're worried. I need to talk to him anyway."

"I'd like to hand them over to him myself. It has to do with personal responsibility. I need to make sure, myself, that he wanted them for good and not.. cause he's looking to take out more cops. No offense intended towards you and yours but…" She reaches up to scratch at her scalp and get a few in before remembering with a wince. "fuck. I should go lay down again. Thank you Dean, for breakfast. I appreciate it, and the sanctuary you and Phoenix have given me. I'm sure you're busy wanting to get a look at what I brought you so far"

Helena considers a moment. "If that's what you want." she says. "I'd ask him why. That's really the important question. Sleep well, Minea."

"Wake me if you have questions" Minea replies, easing up from the chair. Her plates is brought to the sink, put in it's place to await dish washing before the ex agent makes her way back down one floor to the assigned safe house.


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