Is That It Then?

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sabrina_icon.gif sam_icon.gif

Scene Title Is That It Then?
Synopsis Sam comes to talk to Sabrina about the result of his first mission with Adam's cell. Lots of tense silences ensue.
Date September 3 2009

Seattle

Sabrina's room at the hotel in Seattle.


Sabrina hasn't really left the hotel since they arrived in Seattle, nevermind her room. The shades are drawn and she's spent most of the time anxiously pacing or laying down in the dark with a cool cloth over her head to ward off the migraines that have been plaguing her. Who knew massive amounts of guilt could be a trigger for those? Right now she's laying on the bed with a cloth over her eyes, trying to sleep but unable to.

Sam stands outside of Sabrina's room for a while. He needs to talk to someone, but it's unlikely Judy Judgerson in there is really the right one to talk to. It might not be fair to her, too. She doesn't need the reminder of what it is she's participating in. Of the murder she is allowing to happen. But Sam needs to talk to someone about what happened. So he knocks.

The knock startles her and Sabrina sits up, letting her eyes adjust to the room while she stares at the door. There's no 'housekeeping!' prompt, so it's unlikely she needs to chase the maids away. Plus there's a Do Not Disturb on the door. Very carefully she swings her bare feet to the floor and stands, tiptoeing over to look through the peep hole. When she sees who it is she opens the door, though she keeps the latch on so as to just peek out. "…is that it then?"

Standing there at the door is Sam, looking even older and more haggard than usual. "Yeah, I guess that's it, then." He looks past her at the room, then back to her. "I need to talk. To someone. And there's no one else I can talk to. So … lucky you."

For a moment it seems like Sabrina won't let him in, what with the way she shuts the door in his face. Then there's the sound of the lock being flipped off and the door is opened and Sabrina steps back. Her hair is down for once, falling straight around her shoulders and she's wearing a bathrobe. "So she's…it's done?"

"Yeah. It's done. Do you really want the details?" Sam steps in. Even his usually immaculate suit is looking a little wilted. His hair's a mess, he smells like smoke and looks like he hasn't slept in a year. In one hand he's carrying a hardbound book and what Sabrina would know, from just a glance, is an admissions form for a hospital. "You didn't miss much."

Sabrina puts her hand over her mouth and pales, "God." is the only word she utters, stepping away from him as the door closes and wrapping her arms around herself. It helps to pull the robe closer too. "No details. Details are unnecessary. You look like hell."

A quick glance down at himself elicits a faint frown. Sam walks over to look in the big stupid mirror and tugs a little at his tie. Sabrina probably doesn't want to notice, but it'd be hard to miss the way his hair fixes itself, his shirt dewrinkles and his suit … tightens. The suit is weird. It's like for a moment it's not a solid piece of material and is instead made of several pieces of material which snake around one another. It only lasts a fraction of a second, but it'll probably remain with Sabrina for eternity! When he looks back he's very nearly immaculate, though he still smells a little. "She had a daughter. Came in at the wrong moment." Sam's clearly trying to keep his expression neutral, his voice even. He's mostly succeeding.

Sabrina starts away from Sam the moment his clothes start moving, rubbing a hand over her face and looking away nervously. People's powers freak her the hell out. When he mentions a daughter her attention snaps back to him and while she was pale before, she's paler now, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You didn't…" she starts to say before her throat tightens. Perhaps the Company files were correct!

"I didn't." Sam shakes his head, walking over to one of those crappy hotel chairs and sitting down, looking toward a TV that isn't actually on. "I wanted to let her go. She isn't a part of this. Doesn't need to be a part of this. She didn't even know her mother was evolved, could turn to flame. Though it turned out she could turn to smoke. 'Smoke follows fire'. Fft. Her mother told her to run and she did. I saw Williams give chase, though. Monroe and the woman were dealing with the target, so Williams got bored and decided to chase the daughter."

The color doesn't come back to Sabrina's face. "That man is a psychopath. He likes killing, I've seen him-not the same as Mister Monroe-he has no conscience about it. Please tell me Mister Monroe stopped him before he-" she can't even finish that thought, swallowing hard.

"Monroe was busy." Too busy with his revenge to save an innocent person. That should resonate, which is probably why Sam doesn't say it. Or think it. Damn it! "I go to the back just in time to see the girl reform, thinking she was safe. Then Williams stabbed her in the temple. Stabbed her, made a joke as if he was the star of a damned action movie, then picked up her body, took her inside and threw her down on the ground for Monroe. Like a dog with a dead squirrel. I knew the man was simple, but I didn't realize he was … deranged." Sam's face is hard. There's no real question about what he's thinking about. He's not a fan of Ash.

The hand goes up over Sabrina's mouth again as she listens to the story, fingers pressed against her lips. She goes very still as tears start falling, even though she is taking every care not to blink. "…it's my fault. I gave him the address. -I- found her. I-" she looks like she might be sick, pushing up off the bed and heading for the window.

"The girl is alive. Monroe, maybe as a result of my anger, maybe because he genuinely didn't want it to have happened, used a vial of his blood to heal her. Brought her back from dead. With his blood." Sam shakes his head. "I'd had some sharp words for Williams." More than sharp. "So while he did it, Monroe lectured me. That collateral damage happens. That they don't seek it, but it can occur. Ignoring the fact that nothing about it was necessary. That chasing someone down to murder them isn't collateral damage, but is thrill-killing. Ashley Williams is a stupid, rabid dog. I didn't respond. I took the girl to the hospital. She was healed, but her mind hadn't retained her memories. They're scattered."

"It's my fault. I should've-I should've filtered it better, I should've given him the wrong address and just ran or-or-" Sabrina starts pacing again, wringing her hands in front of her in a very distraught way. "Just a little misinformation to buy some time and a warning in the mail. She's alive but she's still dead, isn't she? I gave him the address, I allowed this to happen."

"This isn't your fault. This is my fault. I should have moved faster, gone immediately to make certain the girl escaped. I failed to read Williams. I wouldn't have made this mistake three years ago. I would've pegged him as a psychopath the moment I saw him. Monroe isn't supposed to be like them, like the people who took my family from me just to tie up a loose end." Sam leans forward and rubs the heels of his palms against his eyes. "I imagine eventually Monroe is going to want to talk to me. He still has what I want. And I can't leave this knowing you are in danger. But one day Williams is going to have to depend on me to save his life."

Sabrina makes a sound that's half a sniffle and half a snort, wiping at her face. "Me? Don't worry about me. I'm not your responsibility. This is my own fault. Even you being here, it's because of me. I'm sorry, Mister Book. I thought the faster this went the easier it would be. But it's not. It's not easy at all." The last is punctuated with a little sob there at the end and Sabrina looks to the ceiling to try to keep the tears at a minimum.

Sam looks at Sabrina, something approaching pity in his eyes. More than the self-pity he was feeling earlier. Sabrina could have no idea that being given a person to care about, a living person, would give Sam a purpose beyond murder. A bit of the humanity he figured he'd lost years ago. Metapose, metapose, metapose. "I pray it never gets easier, Miss Fairfax. As long as it never gets easy, you will never be like one of them. I don't know that Adam Monroe and I really share an ultimate goal, just the one. But I do believe there is more to him than what people like Williams represent." There has to be.

"There has to be." Sabrina says out loud, which won't help with the Sam thinking she's not a telepath thing. She looks at the shades drawn across the windows like she can see for miles and miles. "He lives forever, you know. Of course you know."

"Yes. I saw him burnt to black bones tonight and rebuild his body in seconds. I'd say that I'd never seen anything like it, but I kind of used to work in that line of work. Someone who can quickly heal isn't near the top ten weirdest things I've dealt with. I once brought in a guy who had a supernova for a brain. Another guy was basically just a living tumor, healed fa-" Sam cuts off, glancing sidelong at Sabrina. "Sorry. You probably don't want to hear any of this."

Sabrina gives a little shudder and pulls her robe closer again. She sits on the end of the bed again and doesn't really look at Sam. She looks in his general area, but not right at him. "I shouldn't have involved you in this. Tonight must not have been easy." What with her knowing his story.

"That's not your fault either. I was only too eager to join with someone who hated the Company as much as I do. And now I'm in for a penny." Sam pushes himself to his feet and shakes himself out. "I will still work for Monroe, but if the woman and Williams are his 'soldiers', he needs to understand that I'm an associate. I don't plan on answering to his 'captains'." Sam snorts faintly, "If he wants to put someone in charge of me, it can be you. I guess I should be glad that they demanded a demonstration of my ability and came to the conclusion that it was useless."

Sabrina looks up at Sam with watery eyes that indicate she didn't really need to know it wasn't. "This is only the first. There's one more that he knows of. There's more after that but I don't know if I have the stomach for this. No, I know I don't already. So he'll kill the Company. Then what? There'll always be something else, won't there?"

"Probably. A long lifespan gives you a long time to make enemies and develop grudges." Sam scratches his chin. "I don't know. I… I can get you out of this, I think. I can get you away from him and from Williams. I have a way. Now. Later. Whenever you want. Just let me know. Give me some warning and let me know. You're never going to be a loose end."

Sabrina rubs her hand over her face again, cleaning up what remaining tears there are. She looks a little haunted. "So that I can become one of Mister Monroe's grudges? He has all the time in the world to hunt me down. And the resources. I have something he wants and he's not going to let me go until he's taken it all. I'm sorry. I thought this might give you closure. No, that's a lie. I thought you might make this all go by faster. Mean less. What a disaster.

"You need to stop beating yourself up. I'm beating myself up. You're making this all very difficult." Sam shakes his head. "I can get you away, Sabrina." Yes, he uses her first name. "I can make you a new you. Just … just think about it. I don't know how you knew about me, but you don't exist in any files, no history or most wanted lists. You could disappear." He walks to the door and opens it up. "It's a way out. You don't deserve what you fear is going to happen."

"I didn't. I might now." Sabrina does not heed his advice, sounding tired and horribly, horribly guilty. "Your concern is appreciated, Mister Book. But you ought to know how hard running is. You can't ever go far enough, can you? And I can't ever forget."

"Then I'm very, very sorry." That said, he turns to go.


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