Participants:
| Scene Title | Lose/Lose Situations |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elisabeth confides in Cassidy about the elevator crash and the true reason behind it. |
| Date | July 07, 2009 |
In a car outside the NYPD Headquarters.
She took Cassidy when the call came in — elevator crashed to the floor, turned kid into pulp. ID on the kid is Travis Phelps. Though the name means nothing to anyone else, it means something to Elisabeth. And dammit all to hell and back…. there was NOTHING she could do to stop it. She wouldn't tell Cassidy why the scene pissed her off so bad and made her … well, afraid. The drive back to the precinct was made in near-silence. "It's going to be ruled an accident," Liz finally said as they pulled into a parking spot and she turned off the car. "But it wasn't," she admits softly.
No matter how often you see bodies, it never gets any easier. Cassidy will definitely be skipping lunch today… maybe even dinner after seeing that wreckage. What surprised her more was the amount of anger and fear that seemed to come off Elisabeth. Well, mostly the fear.
So when the car went silent and Liz said those words, Cassidy presses her lips tight for a moment before asking. "Why would you think that? It was clearly a malfunction in the system. Happens now and then."
There is an upwelling of grief when Cassidy speaks, and Liz looks out the window of the car. "Accidents happen. But this wasn't one." She shakes her head. "And it's my fault." Sucking in a deep breath, Elisabeth rubs her forehead. "There are two other kids who are going to be targets, and I need to get on this Travis Phelps to see if any of these kids are currently friends with him. If they're not… I'm still at something of loose ends narrowing it down. But I have to get to them, Cass."
Turning in her seat, setting her back against the window, Cassidy gives the other detective a confused look. "Okay… let's start from the beginning and work our way to now." Hands fold neatly in her lap as she considers the woman. "What's going on? Your scared.. your tearing yourself up over an accident."
Elisabeth's been scrambling, trying to figure out how much to tell Cassidy in this case. But to tell her why Liz is going to have to find the people she's gotta find, she's going to have to give the other woman some background. "You're not going to believe me," she finally says. "If I tell you the whole shebang, you're going to think I'm absolutely out of my mind…. .or you're going to know far more about my particular political leanings than you may want… or that you may feel comfortable knowing. And I'm uncertain how you *or* Shelby are going to take what you learn." Or whether it'll get Elisabeth's cute little ass thrown in jail.
A small smile touches Cassidy's lips. "I have gone through the most excruciating mental pain that I hope to never have to experience again and it ended up with me tied to my partner. I have been given really freaky and weird visions about me and Coren by a man of god.. I sometimes end up talking with an English accent of Coren is projecting too strongly.. I have been screwing a criminal…. up until he blew up a whole freaking building and killed himself in the process." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Okay that last part wasn't wholly true, but it's what everyone else knew. "Somehow I think I'm a bit more open minded on things then you think." There is a shrug and hr eyes unfocus a bit as if listening to something in her head. "I can't vouch for my partner as much as I would like… but… He hasn't had my ass thrown into jail yet." She points out helpfully.
There's a pregnant pause as Elisabeth weighs what she knows of Cassidy and her partner with what needs doing… and far more quickly than she may be able to do it herself. "Know that guy Robin Hood? The hacker guy who stole a bunch of money and gave it back?" She knows Cassidy knows to whom she refers — it was all over the news and the precinct. "He's not a hacker, he's literally a technopath — a ghost in the machine. Totally trapped there, with no body. He's a kid — maybe late teens. He's also …. a time traveler," she admits, certain this is the point where Cassidy will give her the 'yep, time to see the shrink' look. "Several years from now, he'll be killed in some kind of… I don't know. Burglary or something, he didn't really tell me how it happened. He only told me who did it, and he's exacting his revenge back in the here and now so that his current-time analog has a different future."
Yeeeah, that's not exactly what she was expecting, but… she said she had an open mind. Cassidy tries to brush aside any mental mumblings from her partner and looks thoughtful. "Huh… " Fingers rub crossed her mouth as she lets it rally sink in. Finally, Cassidy offers the other woman a smile. "Well, I can definitely say that's a new one. So your plan is to get these kids and protect them?" She asks curiously.
Relaxing just fractionally, Elisabeth looks at her. "What I'd intended to do was save the kid who became Robin Hood, assuredly. And then…. divert the kids who caused the trouble if it was at all possible. If that means…. running 'em in, running 'em out of town… hell, I don't know. ANYTHING but letting Robin Hood kill them! They're never going to find the malfunction, because I'm quite sure it was a computer controlled setup. He murdered that kid, Cass."
Chewing on her lower lip, Cassidy nods slowly listening. "Well.. sounds like that's all you can do. The problem with all that is the entire world is pretty much wired up.. how do you protect these kids? No matter where they go, this guy could find them, if what your saying is true and he's /in/ the machines." She's not saying she doesn't believe Liz, in fact her gut pretty much tells her otherwise. "That is a crappy situation."
There's a slow nod. "And therein lies the problem. To get the electronic version of this guy off the grid is going to require…. something out of a fuckin' sci-fi flick. I don't even know what you call it, but basically…. a booby trap. Trap him in a machine and turn it the hell off. Which is what I gather got him in this fix in the first place," she sighs. "The Company or someone trapped him in a machine with no internet or something. I don't know. Anyway…. honestly, Cassidy, I have to admit… I don't know what to do. These kids technically haven't done anything wrong … yet."
Even though she has recently ventured into the gray area of right and wrong, Cassidy still feels the need to say. "I don't think there is anything you can do, unless you you start fudging stuff." Thoughtfully, she says. "Too bad you can use these kids as bait." The morale ramifications of that… not to mention the risks to the detectives job should something happen to the kids. "I… just dunno Liz. It's a lose/lose situation."
"So do I do nothing, then? And just let Robin Hood exact his revenge?" Elisabeth asks quietly. "I can't see how I'm going to save the other two from him. Saving his younger self? That's easy enough, I should think, really. Keep him out of the line of fire and make sure someone who needs to know knows that he's going to manifest a technopath ability. Get him the hell out of sight before someone at DHS decides it's in his "best interests" to sock him away." She uses air quotes with her bitter tone there.
"That really seems to be the best plan. To have an eye kept on this kid." Cassidy closes her eyes as she tries to think. "I wonder if this Company your talking about or even DHS is the same thing I was told about. Course Mortimer blew up a freaking paper factory so I don't think it was DHS. Never heard what it was called, just that it was bad and locked away evolved. Not sure I want the kid version ending up with them." Glancing over at Liz she gives the woman a small uncertain smile. "Sorry, just another think in the life of Cassidy O'Shea." Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she refocuses "If you protect this kid, does that make the future one go away? You know all Back to the Future like? Course with one of the kids down, that might have already changed the course of things. Maybe?"
Elisabeth glances at Cassidy and says quietly, "Primatech Paper was the face of 'the Company' — they're the DHS black ops section, essentially. Whatever your guy did? Gotta admit, I applaud it at this moment. NOw if people could just take down their rival corporation, we MIGHT actually get on with the fucking business of actually living."
Elisabeth adds softly, "I don't think the future versions just vanish, no. They exist here, now. But…. I just don't know for sure. Temporal mechanics is not my strong suit."
Cassidy considers what is said and decides to just tell her outright, "Mortimer gave me files on the Primatech. And a thumb drive with info on it. Nothing that points anyone out or anything… But layout and things like that, what abilities to expect." Trailing off she glances at Liz. "I've got them tucked away.. And I haven't exactly told people.. but you seem to know all about this crap. I believe in the registration, but I don't agre with locking people away just cause something might happen."
Waving it away for a moment she gets back to the business at hand. "Okay, so… He's not going to go away. Still comes down to stopping him and how too.. Do you know of any technopaths on the books?"
Nibbling her lip, Elisabeth admits quietly, "I know a lot more than that. And the rest of what I know will get me chucked into fucking Moab Penitentiary, where they currently store Evos who don't toe the line." She considers. "I know a technopath. A couple, actually. Not on the books, though. It's possible they can help.
"They say that sometimes the only way you can fight fire with with fire. It may take a technopath to help capture this guy. That's really the only thing I can think to tell you." Scratching fingers along her cheek, she watches the people walking past the car, probably giving to two women odd looks for staying in the car so long. "Keep an eye on the kid and capture the future version." She spreads her hands in front of her, a helpless gesture.
Well, she was planning on getting Hana involved anyway. But Elisabeth says to Cassidy, "I have an address for the kid I'm supposed to be protecting. But …. I could really use the help tracking down the other two who were involved in the situation. Maybe…. maybe there's something we can do for them?" She needs to save these kids. They're dumb-ass kids, but that shouldn't be a death sentence. She needs to feel like she's actually doing something — so much of what's happening is out of her control, this one little thing shouldn't be, dammit!
Reaching over to grip the other woman's arm, Cassidy says. "Just tell me what we can do for you, and we'll do our best to help." She only says 'we' and 'us' cause she can't exactly keep Coren out of the loop. "I'm here for you, girl. I got your back." Smiling, she adds. "I don't want you to be afraid to come to us."
If Cassidy had half a clue how afraid Elisabeth is to do exactly that. But still… "I'll get you the list when we get inside. I'd narrowed the kids' names down to just a couple, and with the move he just made on this kid…. I want to cross-check this particular Phelps with the other two. Maybe it'll be just that simple." She smiles a bit. "For myself, I guess I need to make arrangements to see what I can do about telling an elementary-school kid's parents that he's Evolved… before he ever shows any skills." She sighs.
Giving Elisabeth's arm a rub, Cassidy know this can't be easy, but all sh can do is show comfort and support her fellow detective. "Alright." Pulling her hand away she sighs. "Get me that list, lt me know what you need.. do what you gotta do, grab me.. or both of us if you need us." Glancing towards the precinct. "Are you sure about telling them? I mean… you don't know what kind of reaction they will have to it." As it is there are lots of hate crimes involving evolved.
Cassidy takes a dep breath and holds it for a moment. Things like this were always a hard decision. "I think… hold off on telling his folks what he is. Cause at the moment he's fine, you said it's years down the road right?" Glancing at Liz sh arches a brow. "Might be the best interest of the child to wait. Concentrate on his would be killers and getting this technopath." Sounds reasonable… or maybe it's just that fear of what will happen if his folks know and if they would even believe.
Elisabeth nods to Cassidy and sighs. "All right." The weight of knowing what she knows isn't so much less, but at least it's shared. The not knowing what to do about it is also shared. And she smiles slightly at the other woman. "Let's get in there — you know the grapevine has us out here necking," she quips with a roll of her eyes.
That gets a laugh out of Cassidy, as she reaches for the car handle. "Hey, that's better then people waiting for me and Coren to sleep with each other… Or even take attention off of the oddity we are, since we're /trying/ not to tell anyone we're in each other's head most of the time." She sigh and pops the door latch, but doesn't ease it open yet. "Which is hard to hide.. between me developing English accent… to the fact we'll pr actually have whole conversations without realizing we're not talking out loud. It's only a matter of time."