Participants:
| Scene Title | Call Me With A Drop Of Faith |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Niki calls, a leap of faith that Abigail hasn't abandoned her and provides some, for a young woman who's faith has taken hits. |
| Date | January 19, 2009 |
Abigail's Bedroom
Ring ring.
The phone turns on with a click, and a southern "hello" across the electronic line.
There's a voice on the other end of the line. Niki's. "Abby?"
"Niki" There's a pause as if Abby doesn't rightly know what to make of it all. "How are you holding up?
Niki's voice replies "I've been better. How are you?"
"The same, though, somewhat in a better place than you. Homesec is treating you okay?" Abby eases down onto the bed in her room, looking out the window while talking.'
A moment's silence. "Yeah. More or less. Miss you. Miss Elisabeth. How's everyone doing?"
"Don't know. Elisabeth hasn't tried to call or Anything. Last I saw her was when I was fixing you after the sedative. The girls at work though, they say Hi. Hope your doing well. Told them you had to take off, family thing. Wasn't sure what was happening" Abby's voice is quiet over the phone, some attributed to the time of day, the rest, to guilt.'
Niki's voice sounds like it might break a little. "I'm sorry, Abby. I didn't know."
"Which is why Niki, I still answer the phone, and why I brought the Lawyer. How were you to know? You'd been wiped. She did what she did though, out of love. You know that right? She's been.. trying to find a cure, a way to make you all one" Abby draws a leg up, tucking it under herself. "They let you get care packages where you are? You need anything?"
Niki replies "That's…complicated. Right now, I just wanted to talk to someone. It's awfully alone in here. Jail to jail to jail."
"Oh" well that makes sense. "I was surprised, that day you walked into the bar and applied for a job. You remember that day?"'
Niki replies "A little, yes. I didn't know you'd known me from before."
"Do you remember now? What she did?" Abby's hesitant to ask, not knowing whether Niki remembers what Jessica does, though Jessica knows what Niki does.
She replies "Not what she did, no. Though she and I have talked about it quite a bit. I can only see what she does when she lets me see."
"Then it's her job to tell you how we met before then. I know she can hear this. I treat you both separately Niki. I always have. I only called on her a few times when I was with you. part of me, when I first met you, kept you around because of her, but, after. Your.. alone and in need of a friend, and I could do that, I could be that, and … it was nice to have a friend who wasn't.. neck deep in stuff, and not.. giving me heck for who I helped"'
Niki hesitates a moment, and says "So where does that put us when I'm out of here?" she asks, after a pause.
"you mean provided Jessica doesn't come snap my neck? Hopefully.. still friends. If someone Jessica and I know both don't make a run for me at the end of my two weeks. I have no doubt in my mind, that she'll try it Niki"
Niki sounds concerned. "Wait…that Jessica is going to come after you, or someone else is?" she asks.
"Both" is Abigail's reply. "We popped the bubble Niki. Elisabeth and I. I assume it was Elisabeth"
Niki's voice is tight. "I'm not going to let her hurt my friends. And if she ever wants my cooperation, she's going to have to come to terms with me, and she knows it."
"I hope.. that it's something that can be followed through Niki. I really do" Abby flops back against her bed. "I have karaoke. I've never done Karaoke. If you were here, I would have invited you. Turned 20 yesterday"
Her voice is frustrated. "Hopefully I'm going to see you soon. It will depend on how things go with the psychologist."
"You'll do good" Abby speaks softly into the phone. 'Now that.. you know, you can deal with it. You have friends Niki. Elisabeth.. Elisabeth is still your friend. She wouldn't turn you away. I'm sure of it. Just.. be strong okay. I know you can, and now just, you know… slam a door into a ceiling"
Niki's voice is a little wistful. "You're not gonna run once I turn up, right? Promise?"
"Long as it's you and not Jessica, i'll stay put" Abby ensures her. "The moment she comes out, no promises" There's a soft sigh from the non jailbird blonde. "She cares, niki, in her own way. Really. That night I walked back to your place with you. We stood in the snow for like.. nearly half an hour, trying to find a way to get money to you, without you getting suspicious. Money for your apartment, and to get furniture. We had ot stay in the same place, and dust snow off you, so that you wouldn't be any the wiser. She loves you, in as much as cold blooded killers can love"'
There's the briefest pause, and then the voice continues. But that's not Niki. "I did what I did to try and stop Volken from wiping out the city. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you and Elisabeth had to come down on the wrong side of that." From Niki, that wouldn't be a surprising statement. From Jessica? Maybe.
Jessica. On Abby's side of the phone and easily heard over the line, Abby holds her breath for a moment. "I know. But that doesn't mean what you did, was right Jessica and you know that. Elisabeth did, what she had to do. The same as I do what I have to do. Was that all you wanted to talk about?"'
Jessica replies "There isn't so much as right and wrong. Stopping Volken would have meant saving millions…billions of lives. If Elisabeth, or even you, would have had to die to make that happen…then I would have done that. But it doesn't mean that I'm out for revenge on you."
"You can't kill me" Comes Abigail reply. "I'm supposed to be there, whenever it happens"
Jessica seems amused. "I had enough of future foretellings with Isaac Mendez. But suffice it to say that I could kill you, Abby. But I don't WANT to kill you, and that's the important difference."
"Nobody wants to kill me. Just kidnap me and beat me up. Make me do what they want. The end is coming, I don't know where, don't know when. I don't think there's anything you can do to stop it. Are we done talking business? Because I need to ask Niki what songs I need to sing at karaoke and help her pretend that her life is okay"
Jessica's voice sounds amused. "You're very cynical for a woman who's supposed to have so much faith, Abby. Niki's life is going to be just fine. And she can hear both of us just fine right now.
"You kidnapped me Jessica, pummelled one of my homeless women to death, you nearly killed a friend, and i'm very sure you would have done more than lightly bruise me if I hadn't have given you a name. And your not the only one. Someone was waiting outside work the other day Jessica. Instead they got my friend, instead of me. Tell me Jess, how I can't be cynical?"'
Jessica's voice is still sarcastic. "Because you're supposed to have faith. Comes with the package. Who got grabbed?"
"I won't say, because who knows who's listening. Needless to say, they failed. They err'd in blowing up a friend outside where I work while I was on shift"
There's a tone of concern to the voice that wasn't there a moment ago. "Are you okay, Abby?"
"This Jessica… Or Niki?" Abby asks, without hesitation.
She answers "It's Niki, Abby." Of course, there's no way to REALLY tell.
Because Jessica can't show emotion, not without delivering it in a straight tone. "I'll be fine. I'm always fine. I'm abigail, gods chosen, healing the world one person at a time" There's a heavy sigh. "I need to get some sleep. Tell me what song to sing Niki. I don't know what to sing that isn't… a song from church"'
There's a pause, and then Niki answers "Pick one that's halfway there. "If You Believe." Mariah Carey and Michelle Pfeiffer. "I'll talk to you soon, okay? You be careful."
"If you believe. Take care Niki. Stay strong. If Elisabeth gets a hold of me, i'll tell her you said hi. Sleep.. good, wherever you are okay?"'
Niki answers "I'll do my best. God be with you, Abby." It's the first time she's said anything religious to her.
"He always is Niki, whether I falter in my faith with him or not. Thank you" And with that, Abby pulls the cellphone away from her ear and turns it off.'
 January 19th: Heal'em While They're Down |
 January 19th: White Knight |