Participants:
| Scene Title | Looking Into An Empty Mug |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Felix makes a rare visit to the FBI Field Office in New York to ask Sawyer for help in a kidnapping case. They end up talking about the Evolved and what they should do about the current situation. |
| Date | March 26, 2009 |
FBI Field Office, New York City
It's not often that Felix is seen down at the FBI's building in Manhattan. He's generally working with the NYPD in their HQ, if not out with Scout. But today he's in the Bureau's offices, trying to drum up support for this kidnapping and human trafficking case. It's gotten him some bemused tolerance from his superiors, but he does have permission to try and recruit other Agents to give it their attention. So he leans in to the door of the office, peering around. "Agent Sawyer?" he says, tentatively, as if looking to see who in there responds.
Sawyer looks up from behind his desk. He's currently on the phone, and raises a hand with one finger outstretched to indicate for Felix to give him a minute. He then returns his concentration back to the phone. "No, I don't know if I'll be home in time for dinner. You know how things have been lately. I'm not going to ask to be transfered to another office, this is where I need to be." He sighs. "I love you too." He then hangs up the phone, turning his full attention to Felix. "What's up, Agent Ivanov? Don't usually see you up here. What can I do for you?"
Felix pulls a wry face. "Trying to get some help on a kidnapping case. We've recovered the vic, an Evolved girl who heals by laying on of hands. She was taken by this guy out on Staten in order to function as a first aid unit for an Evolved cage fighting operation he had going. I'm hoping it'll be a lead into breaking up a whole human trafficking ring," he says, bluntly. "But I'm up to my ass in alligators as part of Scout, and thought I'd call for some assisstance."
Sawyer leans back in his chair, rubbing his temple. The look on his face says he isn't happy about an Evolved girl turning up dead because of something like this. "Poor girl." He points to one of the chairs in front of his desk, getting up from his own to move to a small cubby where he has a pot of coffee going. "Coffee, Felix?" He begins pouring himself a cup, loading it down with sugar and cream.
"Oh, she's alive, happily," Fel clarifies. "And coffee, yes, please. He tortured her, though, mostly because he could," He's utterly matter of fact about this, though there's cold gleam in his eyes.
Sawyer pours the coffee into a free mug. "You take it black, or what?" He leans against the counter in the cubby. "You need to not sound so dour all the time. I could have sworn by the tone of your voice she was dead. That's good. Any parents? Or is she in protective custody?"
A shake of his head. "No. As much cream and sugar as you can bring yourself to put into it," he says, without demurral. His lips quirk at that. "You have a point. No family in town, she's not in custody."
Sawyer sets his own cup down on his side of the desk before handing one to Felix, as well as dumping several sugar packets and chilled creamers in front of him. "Make it yourself, then. Use as much as you need." He sits back down, taking a long sip of his coffee in the way a practiced drinker can, even when it's still piping hot. "I mean, are we offering her any protection? What about local law enforcement?"
That gets an exasperated sigh from Felix. "The New York DA won't touch it, because Staten is literally and figuratively utterly radioactive. They're trying to claim they have no jurisdiction, as if they've already written Staten right off the books. Nevermind that she was snatched from -Manhattan-," He unceremoniously dumps any number of sugars into his coffee, follows it by a slightly more judicious measure of cream.
Sawyer leans back, gesturing in a confused manner. "Well, if they want to claim a lack of jurisdiction, shouldn't this fall under ours anyway? I mean, any kidnapping that crosses a state line becomes a federal case. I don't see why this is any different." He sighs. "Nobody wants to touch it, because she's Evolved. Look, Felix. I've got a pretty full plate as it is, but I'll see what I can do to help you out."
"Exactly. It didn't cross a state line, but if they pass it off, oh, it's ours," he says, tone positively anticipatory. "I knew this would be an uphill battle, and I'm grateful for whatever you can do."
Sawyer says, "Well, what can I do?" He sits back forward, elbows on his desk as he takes another long drink from his coffee as steam still rises from it. "Do you need me to talk to the victim?"
Felix says, more quietly, "That might help. Let her know we're serious. And help me get what we can on John Logan, who was responsible. In a broader sense, we need to take aim at Staten Island. This might be the goad we need to get local government really giving it attention."
Sawyer actually laughs at that. "Give it time, Felix. If you want the government to take a serious look at the Evolved, besides with eyes of fear or suspicion, give them time. They aren't about to commit such resources to Staten Island. Maybe if they didn't hate us so much, we could do more good." He looks at Felix over his coffee. "I wonder, if you had advance warning from someone with precognative abilities, how many people you could have saved from dying in that explosion? And that's just two of us."
Sawyer says, "Yeah, well. I think someone with benevolent intentions would have just been labeled a genetic freak and carted off to a lab somewhere and poked and prodded until the day they died." He hangs his head a bit. "It may have been better this way. I just wish so many people didn't have to die. Some way the world could have seen us and not felt such negativity. The world is reeling. It's only understandable what they feel. Until things cool down, all we can do is wait."
Fel cocks a cynical eye at him, over the rimof his mug. "And do what we can to -make- them cool down," he suggests, voice low. "Though god knows I'm no poster child for anything, let alone proving the Evolved as useful and law-abiding citizens,"
Sawyer shakes his head. "The last thing we want to do now is give them more reason to fear and hate us. If we push, the world will just push back harder. I'm not saying we shouldn't defend ourselves, but the last thing we need to do now is be terrorists. We need to prove we bleed just like everybody else, suffer just like everybody else. And eventually, they'll start treating us like everybody else."
Yeah, that worked so well for the Jews in 1939. Beautifully. Fel looks….dubious. "Well, terrorism is never the best way of accomplishing one's ideological aims," he concedes, looking around to stir more sugar into his coffee.
Sawyer goes to take another drink, but finds himself looking into an empty mug. He sets it down, scratching his head. "Look, give me a call tomorrow. I should finish some things up here so that maybe I can be home for dinner with my wife for once this month."
Fel's expression softens at that, fractionally. "Of course," he says, setting aside his own mug and rising. "Will do."
 <date>: previous log |
 <date>: next log |