Participants:
| Scene Title | More Options |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Melissa asks Daphne and Abby over to ask the speedster for potential help in rescuing a mutual friend and recent kidnap victim. |
| Date | July 22, 2010 |
Melissa's House
Daphne and Abby both receive calls from Melissa, inviting them over. Abby is promised ice cream, Daphne is promised brownies. Both get warned about serious conversation. But she'd be a poor hostess if she discussed serious stuff without offering refreshments! They were told she'd be in the backyard and to come on back, and..that's where she's at when they get there.
Jerry's running around, digging up the yard and barking at leaves. Mel is stretched out on a lounge chair, hair braided into lots of tiny little braids, sunglasses shielding her eyes, and a glass of iced tea in her hand. And, as usual, headphones are attached to her ears, letting her jam out while she waits.
Short shift. Claimed not feeling well and took off. Bad mood, combined with ability, a sleepless night with l'enfant terrible as she had a bad night too, left for a tired and unhappy abigail who wants to know how on earth, can you get a cold in the middle of summer. She thinks it might be a cold. Scratchy throat and nose alternating between runny and stuffy. Better to not be near patients anyways.
So in uniform, the blue SUV pulled up to the green house and letting herself out of her car, she keeps her sunglasses down. The outer navy button down being unbuttoned so it can be dropped into the passenger side and leaving her in white tank top beneath. it's too hot. Either sub-artic, or near freaking tropic. "Lord, make up your mind already. Wash us out or burn us up" Probably not the wisest of words as she steps away from the car, wisps of blonde hair plastered to her forehead. "Mel"
A striated blur of green and denim-blue and pale off-white comes around the corner, passing the SUV as it comes to a halt in front of the green house. As Abby steps out and moves toward the back yard, suddenly Daphne steps in time with Abby, grinning at the other woman she's seen mostly at Old Lucy's. "Hey! I know you," she says cheerfully. "I didn't know you were a friend of Melissa's, too." Or if she did, she's forgotten it in the past few weeks.
"Melissa, we're heeere," the speedster says, reaching to pull a headphone out of the lounging woman's ear.
There's a quick jump of surprise when Daphne tugs the headphone away, and Melissa blinks at her for a moment, letting her pulse slow again. "Jesus girl, don't scare me like that!" she says with a sheepish smile. The other headphone is tugged away and set aside and she smiles more warmly at both women. "Hey Abby. Either of you want something to drink? I made sweet tea. Southern sweet tea." She grins. "I can't cook, but I can make this edible."
Abby gets a longer look, and Mel's head tilts. "You okay, hon? You look like you're having a hell of a day." Then she glances between them. "Oh, and Abby? This is Daphne. Daph, Abby. All friends of our favorite frenchman and doctor."
"I could go for a sip of home. I could go for a night at home actually, but.. Just caught a cold, or run down, one of the two. Roberts gonna have my hide if I get sick" Abby offers a smile to Daphne at her ocmment about Abby knowing Melissa. "I know everyone Daphne. Just ask everyone"
SWAN DIVE INTO DRAMATIC FLOP onto an adjacent lounger. Not really, more like just a flop. "What was the serious conversation and will I need to go take my pills?"
"Sweet tea sounds perfect. It's too damn hot," says the midwesterner to the two Southern girls as she moves to sit on the edge of Melissa's lounge chair. She grins at Abby. "It seems so. I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I hope it's nothing bad." Like, oh, the Evo-flu. Her dark eyes move to Melissa's to await her answer to Abby's question, though she's curious what pills Abby might need if the news is bad — valium? Xanax?
"You already know, I just figured it'd be better if you were here too, to make sure I get all my facts straight," Melissa answers Abby as she rises to her feet. "It's the deal with Francois and Teo," she explains with a sad look. "Anyway. I'll be right back with a couple big glasses of tea. You want some extra ice, Abby?" she asks as she heads inside.
'Big ol bag of it'd be nice Mel. I feel like I could just burst into flames and no, just… couple bad days. Most folks I work on, aren't contagious. But I got a germ factory living in my home at night and I don't know where Huruma takes her during the day." A glimpse to her phone makes her frown, a black strap coming up from under her shirt, like it might hold something close. Like some traveler's belt or the sort.
"Bought a bar, out in Soho. In a few months it should be up and running, if you ever feel like stopping by"
Daphne arcs a brow at the mention of Francois and Teo, then smiles at Abby. "Great. Let me know, and I'll be there for my free drinks!" she teases, since Abby once offered her such at Lucy's. "I heard about the other one. Really sorry to hear about that. It was a great place."
Small talk aside, she shakes her head. "Something wrong with Francois and Teo? I owe them both a lot. They both seemed fine the last time I saw them." But a lot can happen in this city, even in the shortest amount of time — as Daphne knows.
When Melissa returns it's with a glass of tea in each hand, and a ziplock bag full of ice dangling from her teeth. The latter is dropped in Abby's lap before the tea is passed out. "Still got the baby, huh? Weird," she says with a little shiver. Sitting down she looks to Daphne. "Francois is fine, physically. But Teo…" She glances to Abby, then back to Daphne. "Teo's been kidnapped. So Francois is, understandably, worried for him."
All quiet on the medic front, the bag of ice is taken and laid across her chest, a shudder for the ice and it's cold contact on skin. The glass of tea taken after and she looks behind her shades towards Daphne.
The speedster jumps up, this sort of news too hard for her to sit still for. "Do you know by who? Where?" she all but barks, her dark eyes indignant that whoever did this has done this to one of her friends. She doesn't know Teo that well, but he helped her, he was there for her when no one else was, or at least there to bring her to others who could be there for her. How dare someone take him! She glances around, as if to decide the quickest path to go rescue him. The problem is not knowing where he is.
Melissa reaches out to touch Daphne's arm lightly. "Daphne…calm down. We've got a pretty damn good idea of who, but not the where. Not yet," she says gently, before trying to tug the speedster back down to the chair. "We're going to help him. You know me. I'm a sucker for helping people. Abby is too. I mean, paramedic," she points out with a slight smile. "I figured, given that you're friends with Francois, that you should at least know. And having a speedster on our side can only help us get him out."
"I can't go breaking into any place that you guys find him Mel. I can't, not given who I am. But once you get out, I can patch up any hurts everyone has" Seems Abigail knew already that Teo was taken, might account for the haggard look, maybe just a portion of it.
Abby's words earn a confused glance from Daphne. Not given who she is… "Oh, shit, it's the government, isn't it? I tried to get Hiro out of Coler-Goldwater but … well, he got out somehow, not really because I was so very helpful, but … that was a hospital, that's… that's not the government," she rambles a little. She wants to help but the thought of losing her own freedom if the government catches her trying to rescue him is clearly something else altogether. Her eyes dart to the gate that leads out of the backyard, clearly planning her exodus.
"I hadn't thought about that," Melissa admits to Abby. "But if he is hurt, I doubt Francois will be in the right mind to help him, so it'll be good to have you ready to patch him up." She hesitates and shrugs at Daphne. "I don't know if they're government per se, but they're dangerous, yes. And they've gone too fucking far. I promised Francois that we'd rescue Teo. That I would tear the building apart brick by brick if I had to. I keep my promises."
Daphne's dark eyes move from Abby's face to Melissa's, and she finally nods. These people — Melissa, Francois and Teo — they kept her safe when she had nowhere else to go. She would have had to go to a hospital, and God knows where she'd be now if that were the case. She finally gives a small nod, though it's clear she's frightened. "Okay. Let me know how I can help."
Melissa smiles and shifts closer so she can drape a comforting arm around Daphne's shoulders, giving her a squeeze. "A plan is being worked up now, and people are trying to pinpoint the location where Teo is. Soon as I know, I'll let you know. For you it may be as simple as running in, grabbing Teo, and running out. Not sure yet. But you give us more options."
"How's Francois? I was going to stop over tonight, stay the night with him" Abby was loathe to leave him alone, what with Teo gone. Bag of ice is melting swiftly, water pooling at the bottom of the bag, sweet tea depleted at a steady rate to quench thirst.
"Okay," Daphne repeats. "Let me know what the plan is… I can't… like, guarantee anything, but I'll do what I can. Obviously if there's negators or negation gas or anything like that, I'm no good to you. Not even as back-up," she adds wryly, nose wrinkling. Her eyes move to Abby, then back to Melissa, her own expression hardening, along with her resolve, at the thought of Francois alone.
"I got him drunk and got him watching comedies. It…helped…but just a little. It was better than nothing though," Melissa says, sounding upset that she couldn't do more for him. Daphne gets a nod and another squeeze. "I know. Negation gas is a pain in the ass. Which is why I'll be going loaded for bear. Just in case."
Drunk. Yeah. On more than one occasion they had done that together. It was Francois's course of grief be the person alive or dead or kidnapped. Did he do that when she was kidnapped in Russia. "I should go. Let you both plan what you will. I already got given enough grief for other things. Just.. I'll keep in touch Mel. I'll be heading out of the country not long from now, week at the most. Roberts gonna take care of the dog… Daphne, it was nice to see you again, but I really should go." Abigails moving out of the lounger, putting down her empty cup. "Unless there's anything else?"
Daphne's brows furrow and she fidgets, shifting her weight from one pink sneaker to the other. "Tell him I am here for him, too. I owe him so much." She swallows and then forces a smile at Abby. "Thank you. It was nice to see you again too. I'm sorry it was under crappy circumstances," the speedster tells the taller blonde. "Feel better. Take some zinc and vitamin C or something, Abby."
Melissa frowns a little and rises to her feet, moving over towards Abby. "Drop by whenever you like. You know that," she says before trying to give the other woman a hug. She's just trying to comfort everyone these days!
No touch. Mel can feel why, warmer than usual and she scoots away from the hug with a shake of her head. "I'll be around mel" Abby assures, carting the ice with her since really, there's little else the other woman can do with it. "Stay cool Daphne, don't run too fast" She calls out, getting keys out for her vehicle so she can climb in.
"There's no such thing as too fast," Daphne calls after Abby with a laugh. She sighs and runs a hand through her dreadlocks. "I should get, too. You have my number." Melissa actually has the real phone, not just the throw-away. "Thanks for the heads up. And the chance to help. I'll see if I can find anything out from my circles." Maybe Corbin knows… she's not sure she should ask, and let him know she's in on anything involving rescue, but maybe he can help. She sighs a little, lifting her tea to her mouth to drain it, setting it down. "Thanks, Mel."
Though Melissa nods as Abby heads off, she's still frowning and clearly worried about her friend. She turns back to Daphne and smiles a bit, nodding again. "No problem, hon. And if you can find anything out, that'd be awesome. Lemme know if you do, and I'll be in touch as soon as I hear anything on my end."
There's just one more nod before the speedster disappears into a streak of color and a rush of wind, leaving Melissa to lounge once more in the warm summer sun. If she's still in the mood, that is. Sun and worry don't go very well together.