Participants:
Scene Title | Crisis NOT Averted |
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Synopsis | Although Elisabeth's personal crisis is finally resolved, there is a far greater one looming. At least we have a name to work with now. |
Date | Aug 17, 2009 |
Police Precinct
Great… now we've got Humanis First kidnapping people too. Why we didn't see that coming, no one is really sure. Monday morning is always a shitstorm. But since it hasn't landed the desks in the SCOUT division, Elisabeth's personal crisis is taking precedence for the next half an hour.
Working with an empath is …. probably not so much in her best interests this past week. The entirety of last week Liz was one massive little stressball, the sense of it getting wound tighter and tighter. Saturday, rumor hath it that she actually shouted at her de facto partner Ivanov in the squad room, though no one knows what that was about. The concensus says lover's quarrel. It's kind of sad, really — when she came in the door to work this morning she was more relaxed than she'd been in a week, but the sense Cassidy got from her was that it was still building. And finally something gives way in the blonde detective while she's sitting at her desk unable to make progress on ANY case on her desk. She shoves back her chair and murmurs softly to Cassidy, "I'll be back. Cover for me if ….. no. Cassidy, could you… come stand outside the locker room and make sure no one comes in for like ten minutes?" She surrounds the two of them, excluding even Coren from the request, though she fully realizes that if he pays attention or attempts to hear it, there's little she can do to stop it.
Looking up from her desk, a glance going across to her partner first, Cassidy turns her chair to face Liz. The red headed detective eyes the blond for a long moment. "You know… I've been meaning to ask you lately what's up. I mean. Girl.. Your screaming louder emotionally then Coren is lately." Slapping her palms on the arms of her chair she pushes to her feet. "Coren can stand outside.. You and me obviously need a pow pow." Cassidy looks dead serious about that, she's not about to budge on it. "And if it's anything you're worried about being embarrassed about. Seriously girl.. I'm mentally linked to him.. He knows things a man shouldn't know. I don't think there is much left to throw him for a loop."
Elisabeth closes her eyes. The decision to ask Cassidy to stand guard was one she made in a split second — she'd had no intention of having company for this. And it ratchets up her stress to the point that she's sick to her stomach. "Fine," she says softly. "Not like I can stop you anyway. C'mon, then." She doesn't even look toward Coren as she heads toward the women's locker room.
Those statements only gain Cassidy a look from Coren. Of course, they're completely true statements, and there's plenty he didn't want to know, but there you have it. He knows them anyway. Nevertheless, he's perfectly happy to stand guard, even if it looks mostly ridiculous with him standing outside of the women's locker room once the two girls are inside to do whatever it is they're going to be doing. That much, he doesn't know yet, and like many of the other things, probably doesn't want to know. But hey, he works with these people, he has to trust them and they have to trust him. They also need to RELAX.
Giving her partner a look, Cassidy moves around her desk. She is stressed. I need to be there for her. She's projecting emotions so strongly, at times I think I can feel it when she's out following her cases. And considering, she probably is. Reaching over to grip Coren's arm briefly squeeze, she gives him a Thank you before following Liz into the locker room. "Alright Liz.. talk to me, girl" she starts as soon as she's at the other woman's side again. "Coren's got our back. He'll let me know if someone is coming." she assures. "And he'll keep whatever it is quiet." she reinforces that mentally as well.
By the time they're in the women's locker room, Elisabeth is severely doubting the wisdom of this. But Felix threatened to tie her to a toilet if she didn't damn well do it today…. and he's probably right to. In ignoring what's going on, she's engaged in a few behaviors that are probably better ceased immediately. She heads for her locker and brings out a brown paper bag, closing the locker door slowly. As she turns to face Cassidy, there's a vulnerable expression on the blonde's face. "I, uhm…. I'm late. Like…. over a week late. At first, I…. figured it was stress. And then I just plain didn't want to know. And … " She bites her lip, the emotional toll of all this clearly evident to Cassidy. There is a massive roil of 'OMFG what do I do?' "Even right this second, I'm just not even sure I want to know. This is…. not really the way this was supposed to happen. Not for a good couple of years. I haven't …. I haven't mentioned it to Richard. And all I can think right now is 'thank God there's only one candidate in the pool right now', and I'm royally freaking the fuck out," she admits softly. Only reinforced by the emotions that Cassidy must be getting.
"Oh…. my god." Cassidy says softly, her eyes widening a bit. Her eyes drop to the bag and back to Liz. Then trying to think around the heavy amount of emotions overwhelming her from her friend, the red-headed detective tries to be logical about this. Or maybe there is some help from her partner on this one. "Damn, Liz.. You have to find out, " she starts, hands moving to grip the taller woman's shoulders, trying to catch her eye. You have to know. Otherwise, you'll make yourself sick from worry. I can feel it, your already almost there. It is better to find out and deal with the results, then to keep avoiding the truth." Of course, she doesn't always take her own advice. "You'll never know until you face it." Hmmm.. seems she's picking up Coren's 'Do as I say, not as I do' way of thinking.
Of course Coren will keep it quiet. He's a trustworthy sort of person. Perfect and upstanding in ever possible way. He leans himself against the wall and watches as literally nobody walks by. Of course, with all of the emotions running around as they are, Cassidy's acting like an intercom straight to him, so it's no shock when he's bombarded with their girly conversation. Harrison might be pregnant. If things weren't so crazy as they are right now, he might be shocked, but he's relatively calm about the whole thing. There really are worse things than being pregnant. He shakes his head slightly, Calm down, Cassidy, you're not the one who might be pregnant. No, she's not. Mortimer was many things. Crazy, even. But at least he was safe.
There is a snort of annoyance from Elisabeth as Cassidy reiterates every damn thing Felix has been nagging her about since she told him. Both verbally and not so verbally, since she's miffed at him and not talking to him for much of the past couple of days. Even when he's not anywhere around, she can still feel him giving her Felix Eyes of Doom that say 'go pee on the goddamn stick!' "What the hell do you think I was coming in here for??" she demands of Cassidy. And hell yes, she's almost at the 'I'm gonna puke' part of this event. Wouldn't Cassidy be?? Shaking her head, Elisabeth sighs heavily and goes into one of the stalls. It's not like her business is going to take long. Rattling of a bag, sounds of .. well, you get the picture! When she comes back out, Liz has the stick in her hands and she puts it carefully facedown on the counter by the mirror and washes her hands, giving off very strong 'do not touch' vibes. When her hands are clean, she uses a paper towel to pick up the stick that she is still not looking at and slumps downdowndown against the tile wall to sit with her knees pulled as close to her chest as she can get them. She rests her head back against the wall and looks up at Cassidy. "The only thing I can figure," she says softly, "is that when I had to see the healer…. I remember that I didn't have anymore drugs in my system. But I never even thought to ask…."
It's hard not to be overwhelmed by her emotions.. Your just getting part of it. She's completely freaked out. She's mentally flustered by it all and he knows it. Turning her back to same wall, she slides down to sit next to the other woman, letting her head back against the wall. She leans her shoulder against Liz's, "I swear to God, Liz… It's not the end of the world. I mean. It's a huge bump in the road. But think about it this way. If you are. Officer Simmons. She manages." she gives the woman a matter of fact look. He turns thoughtful and then admits. "Not…. sure what I'd do. Not that my chances are all that good anymore." She smiles a bit. "Something else I can be jealous of, huh?" Cassidy says softly, with a warm smile. Trying to ease the woman's stress a bit.
"My friends…. some of them… that went into the future?" Elisabeth bites her lip and says softly, "I chanced to learn from one of them that I … had a kid. A couple of years from now. A son. And it's not…. it's not really real, you know? Cuz it hasn't happened. The guy who was supposed to be his father got to meet him. And it's kind of tearing him up that he left him there when they came back." She thunks her head back against the wall without looking at Cassidy. "I've spent this whole week trying to figure out what to do if this thing shows blue lines, Cass. And I still … don't have a fuckin' clue. I don't know how Richard will feel about it. He had a shit life as a kid. But… he's got a fondness for kids. The 36 are why he even got into all this mess."
Holding up a hand to stop Liz, "Okay.. think about what you just said Liz." Cassidy say calmly. "Let's look that. You said he had a fondness for kids and that case started into all he's doing. That right there… Those two little facts. That tells me he's not to be worried about. I think he'll do what's right." She tilts her head down and smirks a bit, "Might not involve marriage, but then you are not the marrying type. You like that freedom." her shoulders give a slow shrug. "A kid will limit that some.. but.. I think in the end, if what I've seen of most, you won't care."
She sounds like Teo. Cassidy's words sound like Teo's assurance that she was a good parent. That she could be a good parent. In that future, the father of her child was dead. You don't get to be much more a single parent than that. In this one… he might or might not want to be around, or might get HIS ass killed. Oh, wouldn't that be ironic symmetry? Maybe she's just a jinx. Elisabeth's mind goes off on that tangent, and her heart hurts. She's such a roil of confusion at this moment. There's pure terror under it all. What If?
Biting hard on her lower lip, Elisabeth flips the little stick over to look at the result. And there's a moment there of absolute stillness — where there is true sound for Elisabeth, no response whatsoever — until the 'plink' of a drop in the sink breaks the barrier. And Elisabeth sucks in a single deep breath and gets hit with a massive tidal wave of relief and…. is that regret? From Liz? C'mon…
The emotions from the other woman are almost too much for Cassidy. They are strong emotions. They are enough that Cassidy slides an arm behind the other detectives back in comfort, in an attempt to calm her. . "Seriously… If my mom could do it…." she trails off as Liz turns the stick over, holding her own breath as well. Lord, knows she literally knows what the woman is feeling…. How many people can say that. "Negative." She says what she knows what the other is thinking. Cassidy can't help but feel almost as much relief for the woman. Tightening her arm for the moment, she sighs, letting her head rest against the wall. At least, I'll never have to deal with that. God, the stress. I feel almost like it was me. she glances over at Liz and studies her. She maybe glad.. but her biological clock is still ticking. Cassidy comments to her partner with touch of amusement. That regret in her friend, told her that much. She'd probably feel the same.
The blonde stares hard at the stick, uncertain how to react. As terrified as she was by the possibility, the negative result brings a strange wave of crushing disappointment. Maybe because on some levels, thanks to what she knew of the future and just the time it took her to actually decide to take the test, she's managed to come to some kind of terms within herself for what happens…. what to do… if it's positive. And now that it's not, she has to realign her thinking. Elisabeth wraps her arms tightly around her legs, drops her forehead to her knees, and starts to cry soft, wrenching sobs. The relief is absolutely genuine, but yeah….. some part of her? Some niggling little part? Is beyond sorry. Now she's just got to purge all of it — all the stress, all the fear, all the relief and disappointment.
Cassidy has to bite her lip against that new flood of emotion, but she can't stop she prickling of tears in her eyes in sympathy. She can't shield her partner from those emotions as they echo through her head. The hand resting on Elisabeth's back makes lazy circles as lets the woman cry. Then she can't help but wrap arms around the blond awkwardly, resting her head on Liz's. "I'm sorry, Liz," she murmurs softly. And Liz will know she means those words.
Now is the time she figures to give the other woman privacy, so Cassidy slowly lets go of her. A hand brushes over the back of the woman's head, before pushing herself to her feet, with every intention of giving her a moments privacy to cry out her stress.
For God's sake, give her a hug already, Coren thinks to Cassidy the instant she actually does. Not that he expected her not to do it… Once Cassidy goes to give Liz privacy, he makes his way back to the squad room. As much as he ought to stick around, there are things to do.
Cassidy is left to guard the locker room door and give Elisabeth enough time to pull herself together, wash her face, stash that paper bag back in her locker, try and get her eyes not so red. Not too much a problem — they all think she had a lovers' spat with Ivanov, and it'll suit both her own and his purposes to let them think what they want when she comes back out.
"Where's Harrison?" a uniform asks as she approaches Coren's desk with a greeting card-sized envelope.
Coren gives little more than a shrug. "What have you got there?"
"Some woman left a card at the desk for her."
Coren swipes the card, the writing on the front familiar to him. "I'll be sure she gets it," he says, and waits for the officer to walk away before he opens the envelope and unfolds the 'Congratulations' card.
That's too bad…
- Azrael