Participants:
| Scene Title | Can We Have Machine Guns? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Library Security |
| Date | Sep 15, 2009 |
The library is… well, it's really a bit of a mess at the moment. There are building supplies all over creation, spools or wire, electronics, the air is filled with the scent of ozone and burnt plastic and dust and dirt. In the midst of it kneels Alec, identifiable almost entirely by the scars on his shoulders. Lights flicker and sparks fly as he works at welding something together, a mask covering his eyes, his actions practiced and smooth as he ignores the tiny holes burned into the shirt by the flicking bits of microscopic molten metal.
With the closure of the serial killer case, and still no leads on the Sandman case, Elisabeth has actually found herself in something of a good position at work. Good enough that she asked for a couple of days off and managed to convince her captain that she needed them — it wasn't hard. Two of her partners were kidnapped, one of them is still missing. Whether they think she may be out there rattling some cages off the books or just think she needs a break because of O'Shea's ampathic bond — Coren's briefing was reported back to the NYPD, of course — is anyone's guess. So Elisabeth contacted Alec and asked him to start work. She worked through the night with him, helping pinpoint the spots that will need cameras and motion-sensor alarms and such in person, and then silently worked on whatever he instructed her to. About 3am she finally crashed, falling asleep in the room that Cardinal's been using as an office instead of one of the rooms set up as a dorm — perhaps because the generator in that room drowns out other noise, or perhaps because it's got steady lighting. Either way, it's about 6am when she gets up again, and she comes through the library to find where Alec is working now to rejoin him. She's carrying coffee with her from the pot back there, and she waits until he's finished with the welding before approaching. "Morning."
Alec flicks the sheild on the mask up with a jerk of his head and then turns to eye Liz, "Morning." he's grimy and dirty and all shiney with a coating of sweat, and he's grinning like a kid at play. You'd think a thief of his calibre would get off on breaking into places, not tightening up security. But then Alec's always enjoyed the puzzle in everything, and obviously this is no exception. "Oh thank god. You bring ambrosia." he gives the coffee cup in her hand a look that may make her fear for the life of said hand if it is not speedy in relinquishing it's burden.
There's a soft laugh and Elisabeth turns loose his coffee into his custody. "At the very least, I bring gifts." She looks around and asks, "How far along are we?" Elisabeth couldn't ask Richard to clear the library overnight, but she does tell him, "I asked him to make sure the library was clear when everyone gets up this morning — you can dupe up as much as you want to work in here from about 8 to about 2. No one's supposed to be back before then."
Alec nods his head, "Gotcha, ten to twelve I can dupe." Alec isn't the risky sort when it comes to his secret after all. He sips from the mug, work gloves tucked up under his arms, "Well, the electronic stuff is all put in place. Motion sensors, cameras, so on and so forth. The problem is with this much space there's not a whole lot I can do to make the entrances clear and what have… But, given time, I could make this place a death trap for anyone trying to flush out it's occupants. But that would require training the people that stay here on where to go and what doors to close and lock, help herd any interlopers into things like tazer nets and stuff." he grins. "There's a chance I watch to many movies. Anyway, I just finished welding on the last of the uni-hinges for the steel doors I had to replace the old crappy ones. Anything shy of det cord or a hit from an RPG should give anyone inside more then enough warning and time to get the fuck out. Windows gratings are on their way here, I liberated them from a stock yard I know of, all sneaky like and what have you. By tomorrow the windows will be tear gas canister and infiltrator resistant, but not even a little bullet resistent. I suggest you get your boy to stock up on masks though, just in case. Army surplus sells some of those pretty cheap." he scriches his chin, "Um. Honestly, I could turn this place into a fortress with enough money and time, but we're short on both so I'm flying by the seat of my pants here."
Elisabeth laughs softly. "There's a chance you watch too many movies?" she asks wryly? "I'd say there's a chance you're the most paranoid fucker I ever met…. " Her blue eyes study him with affection. "And I have to admit that I'm eternally grateful for it on a selfish level lately." There's a faint shrug as Elisabeth says quietly, "You're also trying to fly under the radar. The windows here have mostly been blown out by the Bomb anyway, so we don't want to draw attention to the building by doing a lot of external repairs or anything. You can only work with what we're giving you."
Alec snorts, "The grating on the windows will actually look a bit like those old swing gates they used to put on… Never mind, you didn't grow up on that side of the tracks. Um. You know that grating that's usually the flooring of ever catwalk in every movie ever? That's the stuff going over the inside of the windows. It'll look totally like someone just put fencing up, but it should withstand a couple of tear gas shots before one punches through." he grins, "The doors… well. Those will look like metal doors unless you want me to spend an hour or so putting a facade on them?" he takes the paranoid thing as a compliment, it's served him well in his line(s) of work.
Considering the question, Elisabeth nods. "I want you to make them look like they looked before you touched them. If Humanis First comes for them, I want them to think we're stupid, hiding without changing anything about the place." She looks at him and says quietly, "And when they step through the door, I want a fuckin explosion that will fry everyone in a 100-foot radius outward like a directed claymore. And an automated machine gunner's nest with a Terminator in it to take off Danko's head." There's a pause. "But that's just wishful thinking."
Alec tilts his head to the side and then waves her words away, "Oh no. I can totally do that." he doesn't sound like he's kidding. "The Terminator will be rough, but the rest is just a matter of AI, the right mounting, a call to a guy I know in Boston who deals in specialized rigs, a couple of hours of computer programming and I can totally put up a motion tracking automated machine gun nest. Problem is that no matter what I do it won't be ammo effecient, so one the belt runs dry, it's dry." he blinks. "Did I say that out loud?"
There's a soft laugh. She's doing it more often lately, although her eyes still have shadows. Elisabeth sips her coffee and comments mildly, "You did, actually." And boy howdy, is she VERY tempted to wipe out her savings and beg money from Cat to do that — not just because it sounds wicked cool but because it means that Claire and Jessica and Cardinal and everyone else in this building has a fighting chance. "The big entryways in the lobby are good for that, but what about all the smaller entrances? The street-level ones that come in through the bottom level?" she asks as she looks at him.
Alec shrugs and sighs, "Look, I can make you all kinds of booby traps that go bang, problem is? Anyone walking through will set them off. Explosives are cold and entirely uncaring about who they kill. I'm not a soldier, but I know first hand what happens if you get stupid around the wrong sort of bang." he makes a squish sound. "I'd stick low tech if I were you. Trip wires, things that will annoy and slow rather then kill. A few guys fall face first through a door the rest will go slower, be more careful, gives you more time to get your shit and bail. As for the doors… I'm not a miracle worker. You guys picked a nightmare of a place to hole up. To many ways in and out, it's almost fucking impossible to secure it without time, money, and an army of workers." he shrugs helplessly.
"Yes, Alec…. I know," Elisabeth says quietly. "Hence why all I really want from you is the alarms wired to go off in the office and the hallway outside the rooms used as sleeping quarters. I want them to have the time to use any of the egress routes to their advantage, to know where they're comin from if Humanis First comes in. I want you to make a couple of really good traps in the hall that actually goes too those areas that can be activated with remotes…. so for example, if our people are already most of the way out, a bunch of tasers on a remote-activated grid would still handle the guys trying to get into those areas. You should talk to Richard about whether he wants the office rigged with incendiaries, though — just in case he wants to torch the intel we've got hard copies of if he has to evacuate."
Her brain seems to be on a far harder mindset than she has ever previously offered.
Alec eyes her, "Tazer nets would require a lot of battery power, hard to really work… But gas dispersal caniserters?" he shrugs, "They're easy. And you wouldn't believe the stuff I can make for you out of shit you buy at Wal-Mart. Mace on crack. Not to mention oil slicks on the floor, all this marble is begging for a good oil slick. Be impossible to stand." he smiles. "See? To many movies, but god they're good source material."
Elisabeth considers his suggestions and shrugs a little. "What I think I want may not be what Richard wants in here," she comments softly. "My perspective is to visit a whole lot of blood and death on anybody who's fucking stupid enough to try to chase my guys through here." Her tone has that hard edge to it…. she's lost too much. Too many people she loves. And she's damned if she's going to lose more. "He should be here shortly; I left him a message that we'd be here through the early hours. You can talk to him about it when he gets here." She glances at her watch; it's barely 6:15. "I like the gas idea, and the slick idea, though," she admits. "As you say — the point is to slow them down so that the people in the building have the time to get the hell out." She pauses. "Of course, they're all fucking insane, so they're far more likely to stay and shoot back.. but I guess that's neither here nor there, really."
Alec shrugs, "Look, the difference between heroes and martyrs is a pretty obvious one. Do what you can, then get out. No need to draw your line in the sand over some place like this." he waves a hand at the library, "Save that shit for when it counts." he doesn't mention Pinehearst, but it's sorta floating about in his mind as the words leave his mouth. He pauses. "I should get started on the facades for this. You wanna get me another cup of coffee then help me out? I'm not used to having to put steel doors up all by my onesy.'
Elisabeth chuckles mildly. "Well, that's why I got up." Not the only reason that her catnap in the office back there only lasted three hours, but it's as good an excuse as any. "I figured you'd need the extra hands." She turns to head back toward the office for the pot of coffee and comments over her shoulder, "You do realize that I am not your fucking secretary, right? I'll get coffee this time, but after that you're on your own."
Alec smiles sweetly at her, "Long as I'm doing favors for your boyfriend, you get to be on coffee duty." he informs her, "Hey, I'm doing this shit pro-bono, least you can do is fetch the fuel. Especially since you refuse to work topless."
"I'd argue the 'we're all insane' part, but then I remember who's staying here," observes a hollow, echoing rasp of voice before a shadow peels away from the wall; fingers pressing dark into the three-dimensional world, shadows clinging to the man before bleeding away to greyscale and then colour. Richard Cardinal cracks his neck with a roll of his shoulders, arms swinging back to stretch as if he'd been somewhat cramped while incorporeal, "Sorry I'm late, I got a call from a contact I needed to talk to." A look around through dark shades, lips twitching in a faint smile, "Well, someone's been having fun."
God damn it!! Elisabeth drops the coffee cup in her hand as she jumps, sending the half cup of liquid spraying across the floor. "Richard!" she snarls, a shaking hand resting against her chest as she sighs. "Well, … just when I fucking think I'm not a basket case." Rolling her eyes, she turns her attention to the men, her tone is mild now, controlling the reaction as best she can. 'Normal', DAMMIT! And she fixes Alec with a beady eye, ever so calmly replying, "And he's not my boyfriend, that's very juvenile. He's…. well, never mind. You get the picture." Then she looks at Richard. "You want coffee too? Since I refuse to run topless for Alec, I've been relegated to the coffee brigade."
Alec reaches out nonchalantly and plucks up a Dickies work shirt which he shrugs on absently as he turns to smile at Card, "Well it was this or gratuitous sex but for /some/ reason Liz doesn't like think of me naked. I blame porn." he salutes the boss before setting his welding mask aside and standing to stretch a bit himself, his knees and back making the little groany cracky sounds that come with holding a fixed position for any length of time. "Getting old." he observes dryly. Liz is given a sickly sweet smile that's full of childlike innocence and joy. It's creepily good.
"Hey, you're the one who keeps telling me not to tip-toe around you, beautiful…" There's an apologetic glance despite Cardinal's words, walking over towards the pair, "I'll pass on the coffee, thanks, I've got to sleep in a couple hours. Hopefully I can get some Brians in here to help you work, Bonder— I'll lend a hand, but don't expect me to be anywhere near an arc welder, unless you really want to see me writhing on the floor holding my eyes." A grin cracks his lips, and he shrugs off his jacket, tossing it over to rest in an unoccupied corner.
She rests a hand on Cardinal's arm after swooping up the dropped coffee cup, her smile faint and apologetic as well. "I would have jumped before, too," she tells him wryly. "So it's not like it's unusual." She heads for the office to go pick up coffee for Alec and bring it back. It doesn't take a lot of time, after all.
Alec sighs happily, post-stretch, and then eyes Card. "So boss, we need to talk security. Liz wants me to put an automated motion sensitive machinegun nest in front of the main doors. Do-able, but expensive and not all that useful in the long run. Also easily tricked by a tennisball. Personally? I was thinking a home made gas bomb, like mace on crack, and an oil slick seeing as how all this marble flooring is begging for a bit of the slippery. Also she wanted to know if you wanted the office rigged for incendiary clean up. Though I suggest the oil slick and the fire bomb not be near one another for obvious reasons, this place /is/ filled with flammable stuff after all." he grins openly, which leaves Card to decide how much of that Alec was joking about and how much was straight up.
"Maybe I was just checking if you had a bra on, then, when you jumped," Cardinal quips shamelessly to Elisabeth in return, stepping past her to discuss the security with Alec. An amused smile curves to his lips, one brow arching as he ripostes, "What— the nuclear failsafe wasn't feasable? Damn, what am I going to do with all that yellowcake…"
Alec shrugs, "Lemon icing?" he suggests helpfully.
"Now there's a birthday cake I'd have loved to serve Arthur," Cardinal replies dryly, looking around the mess, "Alright, but— seriously. Yeah, I think a machine gun nest goes a bit far, unfortunately. I think we're really looking more delaying defense than offensive defense here. I'm mostly concerned about people getting in without being noticed or rushing through before we can prepare for them or duck out the back. We will need some sort of clean-up failsafe, yeah, I don't want my files falling into the hands of General Autumn, or the Vanguard, or, fuck, Humanis."
Alec nods his head, "Oil slick, massive dose of mace, those are easy, as for the incendiary clean up I'd suggest keeping all the stuff you want fried in a single location, I can rig a controlled thermite burn with little difficulty, it'll eat anything up you want gone."
Cardinal's chin bobs in a nod of agreement, "That's easily done, I'll just shove everything into one filing cabinet that's important. I keep everything hardcopy anyway, too many technopaths running about these days, and none of them are mine…" A scratch under his chin, looking thoughtful, "Gas and oil works for me, so long as it's not too difficult for the residents to avoid tripping them. We don't need to protect the whole building, either, just the part we're operating in. I presume you've already got surveillance down."
Elisabeth comes back in and grins slightly as she hands Alec coffee. "The surveillance is the easy part. I'll walk you through and show you the motion detectors and alarms, too," she tells Cardinal mildly.
Alec nods his head, "That was my thinking too. I suggest you invest in a few army surplus gas masks. In case you guys trip it to soon or they bring some kind of wind controlling chick to block your own gas at you, or hell, even if they have their own tear gas. Just a thought." he nods and smiles, pointing at Liz, "She can walk you through that." he scratches his chin, "Oh, and I'm replacing the main doors that lead to your living area with steel uni-hinge doors, anything shy of symtex won't get through that fast enough for you guys to bail. The uni-hinge can't be shot out with shotgun blasts and the locks will be bar locks, not some silly bolt doo-hickey that can be shot out either." he grins and takes a breath.
"Excellent," Cardinal nods over to Elisabeth, then back to Alec with a crook'd smile, "I'll see if Tuck might be able to find any masks layin' around, assuming he's still got some of his stock packed somewhere now that he's off Staten." A chuckle, "Nice. Always wanted to live in a bank vault."
Elisabeth snickers softly. "Hey… if it gives you time to get out, that's all I asked for." She can't handle the idea that Humanis First could trap them here. "Considering that I heard through the grapevine that when they hit the Ferry, they knew about the sewer-level escape route, I want to make sure you have multiple options — that there's no way in hell they can trap you in here." Elisabeth's voice juuuust barely betrays the tremble that comes with the knowledge that people died that night because she gave up the information. But she didn't know about the egress point, so at least that part, she's not responsible for. Which actually only makes her more paranoid about the library.
"Need to make sure we check the blueprints for any underground entries here so we can block them."
Alec grows a bit more serious, "Dude, this place is anything but a bank vault. With the things I've put in I can still think of over a dozen ways to get to you without breaking a sweat. You picked one of the single most difficult to secure locales I've ever seen. To much space, to many doors, to many weak walls, to much flammable crap around you…" he shakes his head, "Honestly? I'm putting in stop gap measures and that's about it. Someone wants you guys bad enough and if they do some scouting, you're flat boned." Alec's teasing is gone. "Blueprints I can get without issue, and we can always just block them off with stuff. Motion sensors would be useless down there though, to many rats." he shrugs, "If I were you I'd look for a better hole to hide in, something that can be secured /and/ escaped from easily."
"It doesn't matter where we go," Cardinal replies with a tight shake of his head, gesturing a bit with one hand, "If someone wants us bad enough… well. The point is that this place would take a shitload of scouting to figure things out, and ideally we can catch them doing that, and get the hell out beforehand. We could get more secure elsewhere, but we also cut off the number of possible escape routes." A half-turn lets him look over the room, admitting, "We might move eventually, but it'll serve for now."
Elisabeth tenses slightly because Alec's only reinforcing her worries here. Seriously. Her blue eyes are shadowed as she listens to them. She knows why Cardinal stays, and whether she agrees or not… that's his call to make.
Alec nods his head, "Which is why I'm going through all the trouble of this." he waves a hand at the work area. "Speaking of, I have some work to get back too. I need to put the facades on these doors. So you to find a dark corner to make out in like the kids you are, I'll get back to work. I'll do my best with what I have to make things hard on anyone comeing after you."
At the comment about making out, Cardinal snorts, casting over a wry look. "Alright. I'll stir people up to come lend a hand— if they can be bothered. I'm sure Claire'n Zu will help out at least, and if I can lay my hands on Brian you should get a whole crew."
Elisabeth murmurs the reminder, "8 to 2 today, everyone's gotta be clear of the place." She told him that before. "You can sleep at my place. I've got a couple days off — just on-call — thanks to Cassidy's empathic bond."
Alec nods his head, "Yeah yeah." he waves a hand at the two and kneels back down over his finished door, "Go over there and make with the chit chat, send the people when you get them. I got shit to do." he grins and picks up a cordless jigsaw and walks off towards a pile of scraps ominously…
Cardinal's brows raise a touch. "She's back to work already…?" He reaches over to Elisabeth, hand sliding up her arm to rest on her shoulder, head cocking a bit, "I would've thought she'd be on leave."
"No, she's in the hospital still. But the bond became public knowledge in Chicago… and I think they're concerned that I can't be top of my game if her emotions are leaking into mine." Elisabeth leans into the hand on her arm slightly as they turn to walk away from Alec so he can work more. "Convenient cover for my own condition, actually…. I think they think Cassidy's been leaking onto me all along or something."
"All these mental connections worry the fuck out've me, I can't lie," admits Cardinal with a slight grimace, moving along beside her as they walk, "I didn't even like Parkman just talking in my head."
Elisabeth murmurs softly, "Not too pleased about it myself. She's having…. a lot of nightmares and a really hard time of it." Hence why Elisabeth herself has not been sleeping the way everyone hoped she would after Hokuto helped out. Not because she can see Cassidy's nightmares, but there's a vague sense of the woman — of her anxiety levels — that has Liz constantly on edge. As if her own issues aren't already doing that for her. "I don't know that she can break it, either."
Cardinal shakes his head slowly, though he keeps his greatest dreads to himself— no need to worry the woman unduly, after all. "Shit," he glances over, "Isn't there a range? Maybe she can go on vacation or something."
Elisabeth shrugs a bit. "I'm actually not sure, but I know her range with Coren is about 25 miles. So I'm assuming that it's about the same for me. A vacation would be good for her as soon as she's out of the hospital. She doesn't want the memories taken from her — at least, so far." She grimaces at Cardinal, pausing in the hallway with a glance back to Alec. He of the many scars that he covered with that shirt. Looking up again, she says quietly, "She was… injured. Before. And that bastard carved the old scars…. I guess the ones Abby removed? … back into her skin."
"Christ." Cardinal closes his eyes, "You want to try and send Deckard to see her…? I don't know how reliable he is right now, though, and with her bein' a cop that could be—problematic…"
"I suggested Mrs. Hadley instead — Cassidy's Evolved and she's registered. So… we'll leave it there. And Cass doesn't sound sure she even wants that — I just don't know what to do for her. If she asks, I'll let you know." Elisabeth reaches up absently and smoothes the rough cheek. "Don't take on her worries too. I'm going to go see her today, and … as for the empathic thing…." She sighs. "We'll just have to deal with it as it comes. Breaking it is certainly not in my repertoire. And I know she's been told by… someone. Sumter? That breaking it may kill her and Coren. So…"
"Psychics," Cardinal mutters, turning his head into that touch and brushing a kiss to her palm, "At least our abilities are physical ones, we don't fuck with the inside of peoples' heads."
"Weeeeeelllllll….." Elisabeth laughs up at him. Oh yes, she does remember that dream quite vividly! "I dunno. You've done a little fucking with mine." Her tone holds clear innuendo. "And I know you've gone and fucked with Logan's, though not quite in the same way." Cuz that's just gross.
Cardinal rolls his eyes, "Blame Hokuto." Is he blushing? Naaaah. A turn away, and he frowns slightly, the subject switching gears abruptly at the mention, "I need to figure out if I should tell Abigail something about Logan…"
There's not a hint of a blush anywhere on her face for teasing him. Best. Dream. Ever. She's not sure that particular subconscious safe space could get any more firmly anchored in the present, quite honestly — though it was absolutely NOT what she expected when she met him there. Elisabeth merely pats his cheek as he turns away. And then her expression goes from amused and carefree to closed and wary in a split second. "What about him?" she asks, her tone serious.
"I stopped by his club the other night," Cardinal admits, turning back to look at her sidelong with a frown pursing his lips, "Deckard was there, bought a bunch've cocaine from the greasy asshole."
Elisabeth tenses. Visibly. "He…. has a club?" What the fuck? "He's on Manhattan, not hiding out on Staten?" She didn't know that. And just like that, she's on the warpath. "Where?" And a pause. "And you fucking tell Abby about the coke. Today." Because Deckard needs his ass kicked.
Cardinal gives his head a subtle shake. "He's under Linderman's umbrella," he notes quietly, "We can't just storm the bastard, I'm sure he's got it covered— if we want to go after the sonuvabitch, we'll have to be more careful. The place's called Burlesque."
Elisabeth backs up a step from him, fury raging through her. "So…. he's on Manhattan, and if I go arrest his fucking ass on a warrant for kidnapping, you're telling me fucking Linderman will cover his ass? And we haven't let Jessica rip that motherfucker's head off yet, WHY?" Maybe it's just that Logan is an easier target right now than her own demons. "You told me…. you promised… that Logan was not going to get away with what he did to Abby. Are you still standing behind that?"
"Jessica can't do a god-damn thing to him," Cardinal replies sharply, sweeping one hand in a cutting gesture through the air, "Logan's already ambushed her on the fucking street, nearly broke her arm. He can turn her powers off like a light switch." He grimaces, "You want Logan? Tell Laudani to stop protecting him, then. He seems to think the fucker's useful for something."
What?? Elisabeth puts fingertips to the top of her nose, between her eyebrows. "god fucking dammit!" she hisses under her breath, her eyes closed as if she's got a headache. "How do we keep ending up here?? Sylar, now fucking Logan." She clenches her jaw. "This is ridiculous!"
Cardinal's hands spread to either side, "Welcome to my fuckin' world." They fall, then, clapping to his sides as he shakes his head tightly, "Look, it— maybe he's right. I'm gonna try and meet with him soon anyway, maybe we can use Logan to get to Linderman, that's my hope. I don't know how, but… he's sloppy, and he takes things personally. Maybe he'll start leaving a trail."
Elisabeth looks up at him, sighing heavily. "I'm going to tell you something… and you can take it for what it's worth. I don't care if Danko, his guy Douglas of the no last name, or any of those fuckers remaining alive is pivotal to the survival of the human race. If I get the shot, I will take it."
Cardinal lifts both brows a bit. "I wouldn't expect anything else, babe," he says quietly, "They're just fucking vermin. No argument there."
Elisabeth mmhmms in disgust. "And Logan's a fucking amoeba on a flea on a rat… and yet he is being protected by both people I trust and people I hate." She shakes her head. "Christ." If she were Italian, she'd spit on the floor. Bastards. As it is, she looks up at the man in front of her and says, "C'mon… get what you need, I'll drop you back by the apartment if you want. Alec wants to work where you'll be trying to sleep today."
"Yeah, yeah…" Cardinal lifts a hand to brush to her cheek, saying quietly, "Sometimes we can't get the justice we want, babe, but sooner or later— it'll come. Karma's a bitch, promise you that." A tilt of his head to the door, "I'm good."
She doesn't move when he touches her face, and nor does Elisabeth flinch. Perhaps for the first time, there's not even the instinctive minute one she's given him in the weeks since returning. "Fate's a bitch, Karma's a bitch, and Life's a bitch…. but so am I," she tells him quietly. The wellspring of rage she's got simmering is very deep.
At that, Cardinal can't help but grin— just a little. "That's my girl," he murmurs, hand dropping down to her shoulder before he heads for the door, "C'mon. We should talk about some plans and shit, too, if you've got the time…"
Elisabeth nods. "Sure… I've got time. Day off, remember?" She glances over her shoulder to where Alec is studiously ignoring the entire exchange, though she's reasonably sure he missed nothing. At least nothing that he could see, though hearing it would be a no-go with all the noise he's making. She waves with a grin and pivots on a heel to follow Cardinal toward the office. "What kind of plans do you have in mind?"
Cardinal drapes an arm over her shoulder, exhaling a low chuckle, "The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things…"