Participants:
| Scene Title | Little Cat |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Brennan comes bearing DNA sample and coffee to try and get Elijah to run some genetic comparisons for him. |
| Date | December 21, 2010 |
Suresh Center - Second Floor Lab
Some people are on leave, on vacation from the Suresh Center because it's Christmas and the holidays and they are going on vacation. Brennan is on sorta almost but not quite paternity leave. It means that he's on call if there's an emergency but for the next four weeks, he's at the beck and call of his wife and doting on his first son. Likely to be his only son.
But Cardinal had a request and while Elijah is in his lab, all sequestered in his home away from home, Brennan is invading it, standing at the door with a brown bag held to his side and a brown tray with coffee's in his other hand. "Knock knock" He offers to the geneticist, knowing full well he's entering into the lair. "How's work my loyal peon?"
Christmas doesn't really exist for Elijah. Sure, he has a Christmas tree set up, and there are presents under the tree for his daughter, the girl he raised and adopted as his own. He even got her one of the Kinects that are out, after giving it a try. She would have liked it, if she were still here. But he doesn't know where she is now. She could be anywhere— and she'll likely have trouble finding him if she does try, since he had to move recently.
So instead of spending time at home, Elijah has opted to continue his work. The DNA, the RNA, it's a good companion. He doesn't love it as much as he loves his daughter, no. And sure, there is the beautiful new assistant he pulled strings to get, Illyana— who he just so happens to love, as well. But…this is a time for family. And since he has none…he'll stick to what he knows best.
He's seated in front of a microscope, quietly examining a sample and recording his notes. He really should request an office of his own down here instead of upstairs, but he'll wait for another few weeks before doing that. At least now, the lab is fairly clear, giving him a very happy free reign of the equipment. His lab coat, with his name embroidered into the lapel, is resting on the chair nearby, and in a rare casual moment, Dr. Elijah Ruslan is wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes.
At the knock, the man lifts his head, blinking a few times as he clears his vision. Then, he turns, blinking owlishly over at Brennan with raised brows. "Zdrast vuytye." Apparently, he feels like greeting him in Russian. Eli tips his head toward his supervisor, offering a faint smile in his superior's direction. "Work is going well. Much better, now that I have the lab to myself." He always was a bit of a hermit. "What can I do for you today? Surprised you are even here, after hearing that you have a newborn." A faint smile.
Either the poor Russian didn't get the joke, or he's oblivious to it. "I had some things that needed to be done, some errands and as much as I love my children and my new son, I needed to be out of the house for a few hours. I can stare down a guerilla pointing an automated weapon at me, but dear god, Henri's diapers"
Brennan's not perfect. Michelle gets the dirty deeds. "Actually, I was hoping I might get you to do a favour for me. Old hat I'm sure, simplistic but.. I was hoping you might run some DNA for me"
One of these days, Brennan will come to realize that Elijah literally has no sense of humor. Indeed, he's not the first one to have attempts at humor roll off of the Russian's shoulders; it's everyone. A slow nod accompanies a small smirk on his face. "I remember changing my daughter's diapers. I can look at blood and examine it and look at hair and examine it and look at skin and examine it, but even I got squeamish at Koshka's diapers." A melancholy look comes over his face as he mentions his daughter, quite possibly the first glimpse of emotion Brennan has gotten from the ever-serious geneticist.
Then, he's pulling out of his reverie, nodding quietly toward Brennan. "Tried and true practice. I can do that for you, Harve." His words are joined by another small nod.
"Koshka?" Why is that name familiar? Brennan brushes it off for now, lifting the brown bag and settling it on the counter, next go the coffee's one for Elijah. "A friend of mine. He has had… some women appear in his life, claiming to be his sisters" He's going to bypass the whole thing of passing it off as that of his children. "They're unsure, and I offered to take samples, bring it here and see if you might be bale to work your magic and get them an answer in time for Christmas. You know how it is, wanting to be with family for the holidays. I doubt it'll be possible, but… It's Christmas, I couldn't turn them down"
Brennan searches for a seat, pulling it over so he can enjoy the peace of the lab."I'm hiding from my in-laws too, they're in front france, here for the next month. God save me"
The Russian's brows raise slightly as Brennan seems to recognize the name. "Bethany Ruslan, my daughter. I call her 'Malinki Koshka', or 'Little Cat'. I adopted her…almost seven years ago. She…disappeared, back in August." A frown, then he's paying a lot of attention to his coffee.
Then, he's speaking on the topic of the DNA test, and Elijah seems to inflate, a little bit. "I can have it done on Christmas Eve and call you with the results." A faint smile forms on Eli's features, though it doesn't quite touch his eyes. "The least I can do is try and brighten someone else's holidays." He slurps down more coffee.
"Never had in-laws. Then again, not many women like to date me. It's usually the same case, not in touch with my emotions." He offers a dull chuckle, a languid shrug rolling over his shoulders as he turns blue eyes toward the bag.
'Women do tend to like a man who will laugh at a joke and smile Elijah." That Elijah doesn't, isn't off putting to Brennan. He's not the first, but he doesn't expect that the man will be dancing with Luis anytime soon. "I haven't hear of someone named Malinki Koshka, but I'll be sure to keep an eye out in case I run across someone" Separated from family is not good.
'They're good in-laws, but new baby, French, she's very bossy. Like her daughter. So I run and hide when I can and this was convenient" He turns to the bag, gesturing to it. " There's a DNA report from the supposed father. He participated in the human genome project. There's four other sample. Two male, two female. I'm looking to see who all are related to one another and whether any of them are related to the supposed father. Complicated enough?"
Elijah tilts his head toward Brennan, raising his brows. "I smile. I laugh. Just…not often." Usually to himself. When he learns something new that he didn't already know, most of the time. He smiled and laughed with Koshka. "I don't quite understand emotion? I mean…I understand it, but…"" A shrug. "Each emotion is a complex reaction of hormones and chemicals released by the brain in reaction to particular situations. I find it…pointless to allow emotion to cloud my judgment." Probably why he's still single.
A slow nod is offered as Elijah sips at his coffee, before setting it down. He reaches into the bag, pulling out the report and the samples, carefully laying them out on the counter as he eyes over the report thoughtfully, reading over it as if he were reading a very good book. Then, he sets it down, turning his gaze toward Brennan. "Easy. I will try for Christmas Eve, but I can make no promises. If not Christmas, then they can have the gift of knowing that answers are coming."
"Then they can have the gift of knowledge like the wiseman, before the year is new. They can start the new year as family, or as friends still. Doesn't matter. They'll be happy to know. I don't think they'd expect any answers within a few days" Brennan reaches for his coffee, leaning back in the chair, a glance to the work.
'How about, you tell me about your Bethany, while you work, so I can see for myself if you really can smile"