Participants:
| Scene Title | If You Knew What I Know.. |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaylee and Doyle run into each other at the park. Adam Monroe is discussed, leaving Kaylee with more questions and a task. |
| Date | August 13, 2009 |
Central Park has been, and remains, a key attraction in New York City, both for tourists and local residents. Though slightly smaller, approximately 100 acres at its southern end scarred by and still recovering from the explosion, the vast northern regions of the park remain intact.
An array of paths and tracks wind their way through stands of trees and swathes of grass, frequented by joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, and horsemen alike. Flowerbeds, tended gardens, and sheltered conservatories provide a wide array of colorful plants; the sheer size of the park, along with a designated wildlife sanctuary add a wide variety of fauna to the park's visitor list. Several ponds and lakes, as well as the massive Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, break up the expanses of green and growing things. There are roads, for those who prefer to drive through; numerous playgrounds for children dot the landscape.
Many are the people who come to the Park - painters, birdwatchers, musicians, and rock climbers. Others come for the shows; the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater, the annual outdoor concert of the New York Philharmonic on the Great Lawn, the summer performances of the Metropolitan Opera, and many other smaller performing groups besides. They come to ice-skate on the rink, to ride on the Central Park Carousel, to view the many, many statues scattered about the park.
Some of the southern end of the park remains buried beneath rubble. Some of it still looks worn and torn, struggling to come back from the edge of destruction despite everything the crews of landscapers can do. The Wollman Rink has not been rebuilt; the Central Park Wildlife Center remains very much a work in progress, but is not wholly a loss. Someday, this portion of Central Park just might be restored fully to its prior state.
Who knew there were so many bakeries in New York City? Everyone, it seems, but Eric Doyle, which is why he's back in the park today in search of a certain artist who might be able to point him in the right direction. The edge of a baseball cap's tilted down to shade his face, a Mets jacket worn just a size too small and thus open, as it seems unlikely that the zipper could be pulled closed around his girth. The puppeteer walks at a brisk pace across the field where Wendy's usually got her easel set up when she's in, a frown pursing his lips in displeasure as he looks about there, craning his neck to try and spot her.
Lately her days have been rather dull with most of her time spent in a bar. One can only take so many drunks before you want to tear your hair out. So her solution, the park. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that she's sitting on a bench at the edge of a walk way, she is wondering.. "What the hell was I thinking?" those words are murmured aloud as she thinks them.
She glances out across the field and her brows twitch up. Blue eyes follow to heavy form as she tries to think where she has seem him. Oh wait! She hops to her feet and moves to quickly catch up to the man. "Hey there." she offers brightly, a smile on her lips. "You look awfully familiar…" Her eyes narrow a bit as she studies him like she's still trying to figure it out.
It says something about Doyle's life that at the friendly call, his head turns sharply to one side towards her; eyes narrowing a little beneath the shadow of the cap's bill, before recognition settles into those weary eyes and he straightens a bit. "Oh. You." He doesn't sound entirely pleased, but not angry either, just sort of resigned irritation, "Did— did Adam send you?"
"That's right the bank." Kaylee says pleasantly enough as she eyes him thoughtfully. "Adam? Nah." She waves that away with a dismissive hand. "I was just sitting on a bench when I saw you." A vague gesture goes in the direction of the bench. A smirk tugs at the corner of her lips as she considers him. "You know.. I remember him calling you one thing, but you mentioning a different name. Which one should I use?" She glances around the busy park. "Wouldn't want to be saying the wrong thing and all." It doesn't sound like a threat, just meerly her not wanting to out him.
"Jason." It's stressed with just a hint of unhappiness, as if he doesn't like even having to remind her - or tell anyone at all, really. "It's Jason." Meaty shoulders rise, and then fall slowly as he exhales a heavy sigh, one hand coming up to rub against his face as he meanders slow steps over, "You know, I just want to be left alone, have a normal life— everyone else gets one. It's not fair."
"Jason then.. Nice to meet you when there isn't a group of gun happy freaks all over the place." Kaylee gives him a smile, see she means it. "And it's Kaylee, in case — you know — you forgot." She tilts her head at him a bit and holds up her hands. "Hey man. All of us just want a normal life. I can respect that. However, seems for a lot of us we don't get that luxury." She chuckles and shrugs her shoulders, "Look at me for example. I tried to have a normal life of college and stuff.. but now I'm helping Adam," she gives him a wink and says in a whisper. "But between you and me.. I kinda like that bit. So….." She draws out the word her voice going back to normal levels. "..what kinda normal life you lookin' for? I mean what is stoppin' you?"
A snort flares Doyle's nostrils at the comment about liking it, his head shaking slowly from side to side. "I'm sure you do," he says dryly, "Not all of us want to get pulled into whatever brilliant plan he's struck upon now. He's just a— a bully, and a user, like the rest of them." He rubs a hand against his cheek, half-covering his mouth as he leans into it with a grimace, molding the fleshy part of his face in a knead to ward off a headache, muttering, "He wouldn't even help Jasper, the sonuvabitch." A pause, before he looks over sharply as if defending himself against an argument that hasn't come, "And he could have. But no. That wouldn't be Adam."
With everything the large man is saying, Kaylee can't help but ask seriously, "How is it that Adam knows you in the first place?" her head tilts a bit at him as she asks the question, but then she looks away, letting her eyes taking in the scenery. "You know… I've been hearing this kinda talk, but… I dunno. He's been nothing but nice to me. Saved my ass on several occasions. Doesn't look at me like I'm this piece of meat that's only good for a bit of fun… if you know what I mean." a humorless smile settles on her lips. Not to mention the things she learning she can do. Always a plus right? "I'd probably be lying dead in a gutter on Staten if it weren't for him." Not an argument of his character, more a simple statement of fact. "I only know.. what I've been experiencing in his company. I get the impression I don't know all, but then who doesn't have their secrets."
"I lived in the cell next to him for more than a few years," Doyle replies with a faint, wry chuckle, a smile crooking itself up at one corner of his lips as he looks back over to her, "He's a good bullshitter, but that's all it is, in the end. Trust me, whatever he's told you? He hasn't told you the half of it. If you knew what I know…"
"Maybe Jason… Maybe." Kaylee was with an amused smile, her leather jacket rustling a bit as she gives a little shrug. "I'm willing to wait and find out. Right now, he's not given me a reason to doubt, he is a curiosity and I love a good mystery… " Her smile seems to turn a touch mischievous, "Not just that, cause of my association with him…. I've seen the levels I could reach." Her hands slip into the pockets of her jeans, "So.. You were locked up with him? I imagine that drove you crazy. I know his constant meddling in my love life is frustrating to the point at time I want to pull out my hair." Kaylee chuckles softly at the thought, "Not to mention that protective streak." She rolls her eyes a bit.
"You'll just end up down on Level Five," Eric says tightly, glancing off across the park, "Just like we were. No lawyers, no trials, no rights, nothing. Just you, the walls around you, and something to keep your ability safely contained. I doubt they'll let another breakout like ours ever happen again." A look back to her, his expression rueful, almost pitying, "Enjoy it while you can, Kaylee."
"Level Five?" Kaylee asks curiously. "I knew he was locked up. So your like us.. " She holds up a hand and chuckles, "I mean the whole ability thing. You seem like a nice guy and all. Not like some psycho at all. So I can only think that's the reason," She returns his pity with a small smile. " What I have now.. is… It's better then where I was and had," Course that doesn't say much of what she had before. "Adam doesn't beat me. He treats me with some sort of respect." she gives a shrug of her shoulders. "I owe him a lot… and so.. I'm going to help him. Besides, I'm far from being a good girl, that's for sure. Never have been," she trails off softly, actually frowning for once in their whole conversation.
"You're useful." A frown, Doyle's head ducking slightly before he glances over, "You want to prove he's a 'good guy'? You want to test that little…" A wriggle of his fingers in the air, as if grasping for a word, "…fantasy of yours where Adam's the best thing since sliced bread?" He leans in a little, brows lifting over wide eyes, "I've got a good one for you."
Blue eyes narrow at the big guy as his leans in, but Kaylee leans in a touch too. "You've got me curious now, Jason." She turns her head to the side a bit to show she's listening to what he has to say, a blond brow arched, "I'd love to hear it." He's poked at her weakness. Now she must simply know.
A smile twitches just to Doyle's lips, not really reaching tired eyes. "Ask him for a vial of his blood," he replies flatly, "To save a kid's life. I promised Jasper I'd save her, somehow, after Adam just walked away." He grimaces, then, glancing away once more. Nervous, perhaps, because he keeps checking faces and movements. "If I ask, he'll just want me to do something for him for it. I won't. I'm— I'm not giving up my freedom again. Not for him. Not for anybody, heh, not even him." Shoulders hunch a bit, "I come by here a lot. If you get it, stop by."
Her expression simply says he's crazy. "His…. blood? Adam's blood?" Kaylee can't understand…. "How would that save a kid?" She clearly doesn't know that about him, but then Kaylee doesn't know a hell of a lot about her employer.
"Ask him yourself." That said, Doyle turns away from her, walking off briskly across the green lawns of the park, hands tucking back into his jacket's pockets. He doesn't even look back.
Curiosity is plain on her face as Doyle walks away and she lets him, he's given her enough to chew on for one day. "Oh.. I will. You can count on that," the words are murmured quietly at the retreating back. And with that the blond turns to leave as well.