Irrevocably Connected

Participants:

cassidy2_icon.gif coren2_icon.gif

Scene Title Irrevocably Connected
Synopsis Some time after Coren's discharge from Bellevue, Cassidy returns to their hotel room after spending the afternoon with Mortimer. Coren calls her on it and things deteriorate into a harrowing experience that will alter their lives forever.
Date June 18, 2009

New York Marriott Financial Center


It's been well over a week since Coren has been out of the hospital and things have been feeling rather tense. But then when you make cops sit on thier thumbs and not do their jobs they get antsy. They had already watched several cop movies, actually enjoying a bit to ribbing at the bad hollywood mistakes. The talked about past cases and compared notes on more recent stuff. Finally though Cassidy needed out, she needed to clear her head… she needed Mortimer. So after a hush hush call to her crazy stalker boyfriend she slipped out of the hotel. "Hey Coren.. Be back by Dinner." And off she went to Staten. Of course, poor Coren gets flashes of emotions and rather disturbing images while she is gone. Leaving no doubt Cassidy left for a Mortimer booty call.

When Cassidy finally returns, it's pretty much dark outside. She carries a pizza box with Coren's favorite toppings, a bottle of Scotch and a couple of liters of soda. Obviously she's in a rather good mood as she is humming to herself as she bumps the door shut again with a bump of her hip. "Dinner time, partner."

Another reason things have been tense is the onset of cabin fever. Due to his injuries, Coren doesn't exactly go anywhere, since he's still healing. He hasn't called on Abigail to point him in the direction of that unregistered healer she mentioned because he doesn't want to have her face him in his present condition. It was hard enough to have her visit him in the hospital. That is a point very likely understood by Cassidy, even though it has never been spoken between them.

And of course, things have been weird since Cassidy first slept with Mortimer. Coren has been rather suspicious of that from the start, but has tried to push it aside. He is almost certain he did not imagine it. He is almost certain it is reality, and yet he has not yet called her on it. This time, however, he cannot remain silent. The New York Marriott Financial Center is far closer to the docks and Staten Island than Bellevue Hospital Center. The walls are thin.

When Cassidy walks in the door carrying the bottle of Scotch, two-litre bottle of soda, and pizza box, he's standing there in a navy blue Academy sweat shirt and black slacks with a less than amused expression on his face. It's perhaps the closest thing to scorn that Cassidy has ever seen. And no, there's no covert spy stuff here — nothing but the bluntness of a baseball bat. "Did you have sex with Mortimer?"

There is nothing to hide the look of utter shock on Cassidy's face, her brain goes completely numb with it infact, leaving her standing there gaping like an idiot at the door. The silence stretches on for a long moment at Cassidy frantically tries to think of how he could have known. They had been careful, she didn't think she had been followed. "How did….?" Her mouth snaps shut and she frowns. She doesn't look at him as she tries to slip past him to put everything down. "I don't see where it is any of your business." Her words stiff coming from between clenched teeth.

And Coren allows her pass without blocking her. In fact, he steps clear out of her way. "None of my business?" he asks. "How is it none of my bloody business? You're having sexual relations with a wanted felon!" Then he follows her, "Are you trying to get us both suspended, or worse?" He comes up real close to look at her with eyes that seem to pierce so deep into the soul. "Look, I know you have feelings for him, I know you're confused, but you have to think about this and the ramifications of what you're doing."

Everything is dropped on the little nook of a table rather roughly. No opening that coke for awhile. Once unburdened, Cassidy turns around and finds herself more up close and personal then she's use to. Involuntarily she starts to take a step back. However, anger and pride make her stop and face him. Her own eyes locking on to his as her chin tilts up a bit in defiance. "How did you find out?" She asks as calmly as she can, even though her mind is filled with a swirl of choatic emotions. It's enough to make one's head feel pressured.

And that pressure is precisely what makes Coren clench his jaw, visibly. "How did I find out?" he asks, with a hint of a 'how do you think?' tone to it. The images he saw earlier flash through his mind now, just as they likely flash through Cassidy's, and he turns away from her after taking the bottle of Scotch, and works his way to the sofa, where he sits down. "I'd say deduction, but I have a feeling your evolved ability helped me to cheat." He leans back a bit and pours some Scotch into the lowball that was sitting on the sofa's end table. Standing is still somewhat painful. He pulls his bottle of Vicodin from next to the glass and knocks one of the dry pills down his throat. He chases it with a few ounces of Scotch. No, he shouldn't be taking it with alcohol. Heck, he shouldn't be drinking alcohol at all while still taking it.

For the second time Cassidy is left looking like an idiot, but this time he cheeks flame red as she realizes. A part of her wants to say sorry, but at the same time rage seems to flash through her, just how boiling anger. "Cheating or not.. it's none of your damn business who I am seeing." Her voice starts to slowly raises as she continues, "He's trying to at least mend his ways. Look at all the criminals he's finding for us on Staten. He never meant to scare me like that."

The memory of Mortimer coming forward in her mind, the one of the scared frightend man begging her to understand. Him pleading ' Please, I'm sorry I never meant to scare you.'

Seeing him, knock back the pills with Scotch Cassidy moves to quickly snatch the bottle away before he can pour more. Why did she even buy it? "I don't plan on being found out, but I also don't need you to going Mr. Over Protective on me."

Not that he intends to pour more. The images of Mortimer pleading with Cassidy don't change his resolve any, though. "Mister Overprotective? Need I remind you that you're a law enforcement officer. Mending his ways or not, it's not our job to reform them, it's our job to catch them. We can make sure the district attorney goes lenient on him due to his psychosis, but the fact of the matter is, he nearly killed a federal agent and traumatized a woman all in one night. Not to mention he broke into your apartment. If he never meant to scare you, he'd not have done that." More cheating thanks to Cassidy's gift. Meanwhile, what he thinks but doesn't say is how careless Cassidy's been. She could have been followed by other people, or worse. She could have gotten herself killed. If she'd been wrong about Mortimer, if he'd tricked her. Worry worry worry. It's all the man does, it seems.

"I'm not the only female officer that's done something like that." Cassidy snaps, thudding the Scotch on the table roughly, making the whole thing shudder. Her conversation with Liz floats to the forefront of her mind. She keeps her back to her partner, so that he doesn't see the grimace. Figures he'd give her a headache. "And I'm not being careless, I'm being careful. I have been, except for this. Not to mention I can read him, I know he means every word." Shaking her head in denial of some of his other thoughts, she doesn't believe it.. She won't. She KNOWS that he had no intenetion of killing her.

"Harrison," Coren lets escape from his lips. He sighs and leans back into the loveseat with his empty glass. "Cassidy…. Careful or not, you can't keep doing it. Even if he's not dangerous to you, that doesn't mean he can't become dangerous. What happens if things go south? You can't keep doing this forever."

When that name is uttered, Cassidy gasps and then practically growls out, "Goddamn it Shelby…" It's usually not a good sign when she switches to his last name. Her shoulders hunch some as she presses hands to her head. She is completely frustrated and it's hard to know if the sound she makes is mental or voiced. "Damn it get out of my head." Twisting around she points a finger at him, her eyes hold a warning as she says. "Say a word about Liz to anyone and so help me…." The threat dies on her lips, cause she realizes that she can't follow through on it. Why would she hurt somone she cares for? Instead, she glares at him, trying to ignore the headache developing behind her eyes. His other questions don't get answered, but then by her thoughts it's obvious she hasn't looked that far ahead. She closes the distance between then, leaning over some to snap at him. "Just stay out of my fucking love life. It's none of your business." She glares at him and adds, "I will deal with those bridges when I come to them."

Of course, Cassidy should know he cares about her too. On the other hand, it's almost news to Coren that she cares, only because he doesn't think like that. He doesn't think about all the people who might care about him — he's much too preoccupied worrying about those who he cares about to even think that people might care about him. "You won't have to kill me if I say anything: I'm sure she would," Coren remarks.

His Vicodin is starting to kick in, so his own headache is starting to come under control. But he can tell Cassidy has one, and he grabs his bottle of Vicodin and tosses it to her, pretty much knowing she'll be prepared and catch it. Once she's got it, he says precisely what she probably knows is coming but has been denying the whole time. After all, it's what got her into this predicament in the first place. "I would love to stay out of your love life, but that's hard to do when I'm sitting around reading and get flashes of you having sex with a one-armed man — from your point of view."

She probably cares more then she should, why else would Cassidy have spent so much time at the hospital. Making sure he didn't have to eat hospital food, staying by his side, sleeping in that chair for a week. He's her partners, and in a sense he's family cause of that, but it was more then that. He's the one thing that makes her feel safe. She's never felt dependent on anyone and that scares her. Not that it matters.

When the pill bottle is tosses at her, she has to pull back to catch it. Glancing at the label, she feels tempted to take one as the headache is threatening to be a migraine, but she still hesitates. Those thoughts however are brushed aside as he says what she's dreading to hear.

With a groan, Cassidy drops down to sit on the edge of the coffee table, making it creak a bit. Doing that jars her head, making her winces from the pain the movement causes. She hunches over and presses a hand to her forehead as the meaning of those words sink in. There is a heavy amount of embarrassment coloring her words and her face, "You saw?" She knew, but she denied the fact. She wouldn't let herself believe it. How is she ever going to be able to have a regular relationship with anyone if she projects so much. What if he wasn't the only one who got that? That one single thought alone sets off her fear, it grabs at her stomach like a cold fist, "Oh god…." She repeats that several times, shifting to bury her face in her hands.

"I saw," Coren says, not that any further confirmation was necessary. Although he's not one to blush, he does go slightly scarlet as he thinks about it again. "And I won't forget," he adds, "How ever much I want to." Despite the Vicodin, some pain still comes forth, mirroring Cassidy's own headache, though in less strength. He comes forward and reaches to take Cassidy's hands. "Which is why you have to stop this. I can't begin to understand your affection for this man, but I don't want to explore your relationship with him personally. And I know you don't much like the idea of me witnessing it, or anything else about you relationship with him for that matter. It's terribly awkward." Which is of course, an understatement.

Pressure and pain is never a good thing and Cassidy almost can't think cause of it. It just doesn't seem to stop getting worse. It just makes her angry. Angry at him. Angry at her ability. Just angry… She yanks her hands out of his and snaps, "don't touch me," without thinking. With that comes a sudden flash of bright pain as it slices through her skull making her double over from it. What the hell.. She manages to gasp out… "Somethings wrong with me." Hands move to either side of her head, pressing firmly as if trying to hold her poor head together so that it doesn't split open.

There is a second harder stab of pain making her vision blacken at the edges. Her head swimming and lightheaded, she groans softly. She can't seem to think clearly or even force open her eyes, the pain is just too much. At the corner of her mind there is almost like a trickle images like water trickling through the cracks of her mind, and mingling with hers. Who's are they.

"Oh god.. I think I'm going to be sick." These words are groaned as it feels like her head is suddenly splitting apart, the sensation like a sledgehammer punching through the walls of her brain. Sharp stomach wrenching pain. The wall crumbles letting in a flood of mixed memories and emotions. They hit her like a semi. The pain of the experience is enough that she feels like she's going to pass out or throw up from the sheer intensity. But the mercy of unconsciousness doesn't come, nor does she empty her stomach on the floor, she can only continue endure.

As memories, emotions and thoughts crash over her, she starts to realizes that it's not only her memories but Coren's. Especially when she's vividly remembers holding her dead wife… No… She has never been married. It's Coren's memory. She's suddenly very afraid. "Coren?" Not only does his name come out sounding strained, but there is a quiver of that fear to it.

Vicodin or not, what happens is beyond the realm of just-barely-kicking-in analgesics. Suddenly, Coren believes he knows what it feels like to be mummified — what with the red hot poker being stuck up one's nose and the brain swirld around and bit and pulled out. Tie that in with his current injuries, and he's on the floor first, not that Cassidy's in any position to notice that. And while she may feel like she's about to pass out, Coren doesn't. He gets to feel every burning pain in his head without the relief of even thinking he might pass out. He's endured gun shots wounds, for God's sake.

Nevertheless, things go black, his eyes no longer function. No, they're just closed and squinting from all the pain. Colors and stars flash before his eyes as he holds them shut so tightly the pressure sends various nerve signals to his brain, confusing it in a jumble of his own memories and Cassidy's own. He practically feels himself being beaten up, as she was, after watching his — no her — partner's head burst like a melon dropped from extreme heights. All of the sensations swirl together in a haze that makes the world's worst acid-trip seem so sedate.

In the aftermath, all is quiet. Something grips him, but he can't quite place what it is. He's just breathing, his eyes still closed. What is that feeling? It feels so familiar and yet alien, as though it's not his own. Analytical mind that Coren has, fear has not yet taken him over, either. Instead, he tries to process what has happened, analyzing it to come up with something — anything — that makes sense or that can in any way explain what just happened. Couple the previous flashes and images with the sudden onslaught of them, and that feeling he now recognizes as fear. But he's not afraid, is he?

When he opens his eyes, it takes several moments for the room to come into focus. He wipes tears from his eyes and doesn't yet try to get up off the floor, instead looking at Cassidy as she mutters his name. Last he saw, she was on the table ,and yet now she's on the floor nearby him. "Don't be afraid," he says, though he starts to feel his own fear rising. For all he can come up with a logical explanation of what just happened, he doesn't quite want to accept it, nor is he entirely certain that is in fact what happened. He tastes copper and looks over at his partner. "Your nose is bleeding." As he had done prior to their sudden torture, he reaches to take one of Cassidy's hands as an act of reassurance, knowing from his own surfacing fear that she is slowly becoming terrified.

Her head still throbs some, but the onslaught has calmed and things seem silent. Laying there, she's afraid to move she doesn't open her eyes right away. A murmur tickles at the corner of her mind, a familiar one. She tries to concentrate on that sound, but it evades her and she's too exhausted to chase it. Once she relaxes the murmuring of Coren's mind as it tries to reason out what happen becomes clear.

Her eyes slowly open and she blinks a few times at the view of the ceiling. When did she end up there? She swollows and grimaces at the taste of blood about the time her partner mentions it. The act of turning her head is painful, but she has to make sure he's alright. She jumps when she feels his fingers brush her own, but then she grips his hand like a lifeline. Her freehand comes around to wipe blood on the edge of her hand and she stares at it, the thoughts go pouring through the fresh link between them.

What did she just do to them? Oh god.. what just happened? What did I just do? Her vision blurs with sudden tears, they slide down her temple into her hair.

Looking at Cassidy as he is, Coren cannot help but notice how her lips don't move as he hears her. He shakes his head a bit, blinking away tears that form in his eyes as his partner starts tearing up. He grips her hand tightly, insistent on making her know she's not alone, while at the same time pondering just what this means. What, is she telepathic now? No, no, we're connected. We always have been… Haven't we? He squints his eyes, sharp pain in his temples still lingering from whatever it was that just happened to them.

Coren is the first to try to get up. It was all in the head, yet his entire body feels sore. Then he remembers the fact that he's still healing from being shot. The now old words, I just want you to know: I hold your life in my hands, go through his mind. He can practically hear the gunshots at this point but he wills himself not to be affected by it. He has to tend to Cassidy. "Come on luv," he says, though she probably already knows what he's about to say as he formulates something in his head — anything to try and make her certain he doesn't blame her for this. Although, doesn't he? The blood from his own nose goes on his sleeve. It probably won't come out in the wash, but that doesn't really matter at this point. He can always get a new sweatshirt.

The hand that is Cassidy's lifeline pulls on her gently, his other hand reaching to help pull her up as well so he can get her on the sofa. It's a better spot to sit around on than the floor, at any rate and they have to both calm down and figure out just what's going on. Once they're on the sofa, he turns Cassidy's face towards him, "Look at me, luv: This isn't your fault." Isn't it? He's not sure what to believe. There was a point he thought evolveds were vile, something to be extra vigilant towards. Then he found out he was one. It was hard to get through, and some of it still lingers. But no, Cassidy would never have intentionally done this. Given how hard she fought with him about Mortimer — if she'd had any control of this, she wouldn't have let any of that happen. "It's not your fault," he repeats.

Cassidy feels like she's in some surreal Twilight Zone episode, his thoughts murmur in her head and she stare at her bloody hand. She didn't think she was telepathic, only an empath it had looked like. Nothing like this happened before, she only had her gut feelings. Was this her ability? Her whole body shudders at the memory of the pain and her stomach does a theatening flip. Please don't let me throw up.

The tug on her hand brings her back to her partner and she blinks at him as if for a moment she forgot he was there. Of course, how will she ever not know anymore. Tears start to well up in her eyes again. I'm so sorry.. Her other hand reaching to grasp his other hand as well.

It's slow going but they do succeed on getting her sitting on the sofa, her head swimming a bit. She forces her eyes to focus on Coren and there is a sudden flash of panic to the point that she almost feels hysteric. "Oh god, Coren.. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." She grips his hands hard, her eyes pleading with him. "Please, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't do this on purpose." She head shakes a bit wildly and she groans at the fresh pain. "No.. this is my fault.. I know it. I can hear what you thinking.. and I can feel your indecision.. I did this." The poor woman is on the edge of breaking down.

"No," Coren says, "Nobody would choose this." She tried to hide her feelings for Mortimer. She fought with him about it — it's her business and not his. Unless she wanted an excuse to end things, there's no way she would have chosen this. Coren may be indecisive, but he's leaning towards this whole event being unintentional. Of course, the question as to whether or not it's reversible….

"I probably don't have to say anything — you've probably already heard everything I've been thinking," he says. "Whether or not it was your fault, I don't blame you for this. I don't believe you chose to do this. Hell, the mere idea seems laughable." He reaches a hand up, which is a struggle since she's holding it so tightly, to touch her face. "Don't think for a moment that I blame you."

Eyes wild with fear and bright with unshed tears stare at his mouth, Cassidy has noticed as well that his lips are not moving on some of what she hears in her head. When she feels one of his hands move she lets go of it and looks him in the eyes. No.. I wouldn't have chosen this. And not sure if I can reverse it. She bites on her lip hard as it starts to quiver, tears threatening again as his hand touches her face. "You should.. what if this can't be reversed?" Her voice is soft as if afraid to talk out loud.

A thought suddenly occurs to her and she reaches up to pull his hand from her face, gripping it tightly again to mask the shaking it's doing. She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes. She did this… she must be able to reverse it right? She tries to calm her fear while trying to think of how to try. So… Well… how about a brickwall? Swallowing nervously and licking her lips, she starts to try and imagine herself building a brickwall. One brick at a time.

Of course, given how much both Coren and Cassidy went through, doing what she is attempting is not the smartest idea. And he knows what she's trying, because he can't help but see the bricks when he closes his eyes. The thought of how it may be a bad idea flits through Coren's mind for only a moment, some pain in his own head still lingering. It's too soon. He observes the look of intense concentration upon Cassidy's face as she attempts to put a wall between them.

As the bricks are placed the pressure grows again, but Cassidy brushes the discomfort aside. She has to do this. She /has/ too. But as the wall gets taller she finds herself trying to hold up that wall and place the bricks. Just as suddenly as she starts… she feels the wall start to crumble… She scrambles to stop it…. there is pain and then her world goes black.

The look of pain upon her face is so sudden that he reaches out to catch her, even though they're on the sofa and the most damage she could do is bump her head on the wooden arm rest. When blood starts seeping out of both of her nostrils, his concern grows into outright worry. He rushes into the bathroom to grab a rag and returns to the sofa in such haste he probably pulls his stitches, but that is hardly a thought that crosses his mind.

Coren lays Cassidy down as gently a she can, wiping some of the blood with the face cloth he grabbed from the bathroom. He brushes the hair from her face and gives her a gentle shake. "Cassidy, wake up. Come on." Jesus Christ, don't let her die on me. His eyes glisten as he shakes her again, his voice strained as he says, "Come on, Cass."

The first thing Cassidy notices is the taste of blood again and then the sharp pain that makes her whole head throb. And then Coren, he's there. Thank god. Something flits through her mind and she frowns. Don't die? Wouldn't it be better if she was? Her eyes finally flutter open again and she groans, her stomach protesting the shake of her shoulder. "'m alive.. 'm alive. Stop…" Her murmurs, her hand lifting to make a weak effort to stop him shaking her. "If I move too much.. I'm going to puke." Then she realizes she's on her back again. "I blacked out this time?"

Coren immediately stops shaking and instead places a hand upon her face. Thank God goes through his head, too. "Don't you dare," he says aloud, obviously referring to her thought about it being better if she were dead. "Don't ever think that." He brushes his hand across her face and gently wipes the blood from under her nose again. The bleeding has mostly stopped from what he can tell. You did, he confirms. "I'll be back in just a moment," he says, not that he wants to leave her.

Of course, she'll know he's getting ice. He's gone only a minute as he leaves the room to go to the ice machine. When he returns, he has a steel bucket of ice, which he pours most of into a larger towel that he gets from the bathroom, and places under Cassidy's neck. Some ice goes into a glass with some Scotch and he offers it to her without words: Sip on this, luv.

Whether it's nerves, pain, or both, Cassidy is in a battle for the contents of her stomach. She wants to take the hand that touches her face and reassure him that she won't. Too scared of death. But she's also feeling horrible about what she did to them. When he moves away and out the door, she lets her eyes drift shut, trying to shut out everything so that she can concentrate on not throwing up.

She starts to drift off, half dreaming what he's doing. When he lifts her head she starts awake, but relaxes as she feels the cold under her neck. The glass placed in her shaking hand, the ice rattling aganst the sides. What is it about ice on the back of the neck that calms the stomach? Just a random thought, but it's enough to clear her head. Coren! Her head comes up. "Your back!" She moves to try and sit up so that she can try to get a look at it. "Oh god.. I'm sorry.. I probably popped your stitches."

Coren adds his hand to Cassidy's to stabilize the glass and helps her to sip some of the Scotch. "More likely the alcohol will. The ice is to help with the pain." Of course, the pain in her head. When she mentions his back, he's confused for a moment. There was something he was suppressing, but until now, he had almost forgotten about the pain in his back, and the mere mention of it makes him wince. But rather than worrying about it still, he holds Cassidy still and then carefully helps her sit up. At any rate, they do have the empty metal bucket in case Cassidy does vomit.

Only once Cassidy is up and looking like she's not going to vomit does he turn around and lift his shirt. Sure enough, a few of the stitches have torn out, but there is only a bit of oozing at just the lower incision point, despite the visible stains on the shirt that suggest it had bled a bit more when it first tore. "See, it's not too bad," he says, already assessing what his partner's seen before she verbalizes it. "Probably heal up fine on its own. Nothing to worry yourself about." Because he doesn't want her to worry, not about any of it. This thing — they'll figure out.

Cassidy doesn't throw up, but there is a moment where it was a near thing, but it settles quickly. Taking another sip of the scotch while he turns his back to her and lifts his shirt. She ignores him and leans close enough to check it. A hand lifts to press gently against his back. "No. Not as bad as it could of been with you manhandling me around." Her head droops forward and her hand slides away. "I'm sorry, Coren." Her hand moves to press against her forehead as she suddenly feels very tired. "Thank you though… you know… For not running the other way when this happened."

Coren takes up Cassidy's hands in his own. "You're welcome," he says. He actually kisses one of those hands too. "I'm not going anywhere, and I will never leave you." He lets go of her hands and brushes the hair from her face, "You get some rest, luv. We have a lot of things to figure out now, but I think we can both use a bit of sleep." Finally returning to his own seat on the sofa, he pulls Cassidy closer towards him and lays her down gently against himself, stroking her head until she's asleep. He finishes her Scotch and sits there in silence for some time before falling asleep himself.


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