Participants:
| Scene Title | Just Trust Me |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After some encouraging, Elle wins cooperation from both sides of Niki. |
| Date | September 17, 2008 |
Primatech Research, Cell Block A
Time seems to blur in this place. No windows, no way to tell morning from night. Finally, after sedation earlier, the tall blonde is coming to. She feels like crap…repeated electrocutions have a way of putting a real cramp in your day.
At least Jessica's been receiving time in the Company infirmary, right? Um. Right. Always look on the bright side of liiiife.
Oh - and speaking of visitors? Jessica has one. An all-too familiar figure in the form of a slight, blonde woman who is currently wearing a dark sweater, gray slacks, and hair lying straightened around her shoulders. There are heels, yes, but though they're thin and pointed, they aren't taller than they visually need to be. Without any hint of politeness, she pushes open the door to the cell and stalks in, pausing right after she gets inside to squint at the occupant thoughtfully. Her drooping hand is steadied and cupped at her side, just in case, though no hint of electricity is to be seen (yet).
Jessica takes a moment and looks over. Oh, GRR. She narrows her eyes as she sees Elle. "What do -you- want?" She isn't going to attack Elle, though. She's tired of getting shocked.
This time around, Elle isn’t going to tell Jessica what she wants. A mysterious smile smooths the corners of her lips. “I just want to talk,” she says comfortably. And indeed, from her informal posture and tone of voice, it looks as though what she wants to talk –about- isn’t even anything official.
Jessica looks annoyed. "What the hell would I want to talk to you about?" She narrows her eyes. "I don't talk to people who like to electrocute me."
The lock settles comfortably in behind Elle, as does the heavy door. They’re alone now, as far as conversation goes. “How many people is that?” she smirks. “—All of. One person. Besides, you must get bored in here.” She gives an innocuously tiny shrug, looking about the cell as she steps in towards the other woman.
Jessica narrows her eyes. "And I'm so sure that you're interested in that. You were the one trying to get me buried the other night, bitch. And sedated. And electroshocked. What do you people -want- from me?"
“I wasn’t /trying/ to get you buried.” A faintly childish look crosses Elle’s face, and her tone of voice bends upwards just a little bit. The gauzy strip of bandage still swathing her nose is proof that, at the very least, the fight had not been entirely one-sided. “If I’d /wanted/ to, you can be confident that you’d be dead right now. Don’t you remember what I’d said? I wasn’t trying to hurt you anymore than I needed to, but you sort of make it hard.” Specifically, that is, Jessica makes it hard.
Jessica smirks a little. "Yeah, well. I do that. All right. Then level with me. What do I need to do to get out of this place? You people must want SOMETHING."
“Yooou need to leave.” Elle folds her arms across her chest. There is nothing but wide-eyed, thin-lipped earnestness on her face. “The whole point of you being /in/ here in the first place is that Jessica is dangerous. Once Jessie is gone, Niki-baby is free to leave.”
Jessica scowls. "Niki doesn't WANT to leave." she points out. "Plus, you're talking about killing me."
"Don't be one-hundred percent about that." After all, if Niki had consented to let Elle try and bring Jessica out, she must've thought there was even a tiny chance of her life resuming normalcy again. "How long do I have to repeat myself? I do not /want/ to kill you, nor was I ever planning to. Besides, I don't think your personality thing- whatever- works like that."
Jessica adopts the tone of talking to a stupid person. "You're talking about letting -Niki- out. Once I'm gone. I'm not Niki, she's not me."
Clearly, because Elle isn’t understanding either. “You’re in the same body.” Elle’s voice takes on a slightly curious edge. “…what. Are you /afraid/ of going away for good?” Once Niki doesn’t need Jessica anymore, that is.
Jessica frowns. "Niki can barely even function. She certainly can't protect herself. Not without me."
“She has your superstrength.” Elle casts her glance sideways and to the floor for the briefest of moments, then returns it to Jessica with a closed-mouth breath. “You, like- always seem to forget that. Sure, she might not know how to use it like you do, but that’s where we were planning on showing her.” It’s not an infeasible idea, and certainly one that has been accomplished in other people by the Company. The unspoken implication: once –you’re- gone.
Jessica looks back, and narrows her eyes. "I'm not talking about physically. I'm talking about mentally. She's spent two years catatonic because she can't cope." she snaps.
“That’s what I’m talking about too.” Elle has her own eyes narrowed by this point. “She’s like a helpless little baby because you do everything for her. She’s used her power on her own – what, once? Maybe twice? If you hadn’t taken over when you did, she would’ve /had/ to learn to cope.” Like any normal person. “Don’t you get it?”
Jessica replies "Yeah, and if she doesn't she ends up hurt or dead or worse. You're asking me to put an awful lot of trust in the thought that she MIGHT be able to handle it."
“We. Will. Help Her.” It is Elle’s turn to sound as though she’s talking to someone who requires everything to be repeated to them. “It’s what we /do/ at this place. No, we aren’t going to release her into the wild the second you say ‘fine’. It’ll happen slow.”
Jessica frowns. But maybe she's willing to at least let them try. She takes a long moment, closing her eyes, and then finally opening them again. "Did it work?"
"I don't know." Elle's eyes watch Jessica's face closely, searching for signs of that telltale shift. In past changes, though, she hadn't been watching directly enough to know precisely what to look for. "Maybe /you/ should tell /me/."
Niki's only obvious sign is the Symbol, which shows on Jessica's shoulder blade but not hers. And she has a top on, which makes it unseeable. "Oh, I'm sore. She didn't hurt…" And she sees Elle's nose. "Oh, I'm so sorry!!"
For a moment, Elle looks startled – perhaps she hadn’t been expecting it to work. A small smile works its way onto her face once Niki broaches the subject of concern, though it becomes paused as a thought occurs to her. Elle has a question of her own. “Niki. Do you…remember everything that just went on?” In the conversation with Jessica, that is. Hey. She can’t be sure.
Niki shakes her head. She frequently doesn't remember what Jessica does, though the reverse is rarely the case. "No, what happened? I hurt more…and your nose! What did I do?" she sounds distraught.
Time to be honest. Nothing’s going to be helped by more lies, especially since that might threaten to lure Jessica back. “I had to draw Jessica out.” Elle tucks a long strand of hair behind one ear. She makes a quiet ‘heh’ noise, reaching up to scratch a vague spot beside that nose. “Aaaas we found out, it only works when you’re in real danger. She didn’t give herself up without a fight.”
A pause, then. Though still holding its note of seriousness, Elle’s voice becomes much freer and more unconcerned. “…don’t worry about any of that, though. I can tell you the whole thing later if you really feel like it. Point is, now that we’re sure one block’s not in the way anymore, we’re free to get started helping you on the rest.” With reassuring liveliness – “What do you say?”
Niki nods. "I know you said you were going to. And then you and I were wrestling…and then…" And then she was here. "I think that sounds good. I didn't…she didn't hurt anyone else, did she?" Even if she says "hurt", "kill" is in her brain.
"She didn't." Elle's answer is accompanied by a positive, supportive look. "Yeah so. First thing you get is to be moved to a better home. If you're to be going through power rehab, this is the worst place in the world to do it. And come on- you didn't think you'd be locked in here /forever/, did you?”
The taller blonde lets out a long sigh. "I thought I might. It still might be better." She sounds not at all sure about this whole "Being let out" thing.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” Elle says firmly, her lips sealed in an easygoing smile. “It’ll still be in this facility, you know – we can’t keep wraps on you and Jessica if we don’t know where you are. Just. Someplace a lot nicer.”
Niki nods. Foolishly enough, she's actually starting to trust Elle. She stands. "All right. Thank you. And I am -so- sorry about your nose." she says, looking honestly apologetic.
"Don't worry about it," Elle repeats, her tone careless. She swivels to head back in the direction of the door, turning and hanging one hand off one side of the doorframe - slightly - just as she gets there. "I can't promise you when it'll happen. We'll have to get arrangements and stuff taken care of first. It'll happen in a day or two, though."
The smile widens just a little, becomes more lopsided. Understanding. "You're not going to regret this, Niki."
 September 17th: Slipknot |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 September 17th: A Different School of Thought |