Nice Try, But No Forgiveness

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Scene Title	Nice Try, But No Forgiveness
Synopsis	Through gifts and an apology, Niki tries to make amends for past actions.
Date	November 2, 2008

Primatech Research: Infirmary

Little of note has changed in Elle's surroundings. Just as she's been, the electricity-wielding blonde is still in that part of the Primatech building reserved for use as an infirmary, her shoulders propped up in her hospital bed by a pile of cushy pillows. Her eyes are angled down at an open book, one of her hands pressing its spine against her uplifted knees. If anybody should be observing, though, it's clear that she's as bored as hell. One of the strands of her long, blonde hair swings loose from behind an ear, and she tucks it back with carelessness. So much for resuming a normal life right away.

Guilt is a wonderful motivator. But the language of flowers sort of lacks anything for "Hey, sorry I got you kidnapped." Or that my MPD alter-ego did. She's settled for a mix of daisies and carnations, and has shown up at Elle's room. She knocks at the door, heralding her arrival.

The door is already cracked partially ajar, though far closer to 'closed' than 'open'. There is no reply from Elle's end at first, though after a moment of silence, there is a "Yeah?" The visitor is free to come in as she chooses, it seems.

Niki swings the door open, holding the flowers with the other hand. She steps up to Elle's bedside. "Hey there, Elle." It's a bit sheepish. She offers out the flowers-in-mug to the other woman.

Elle shifts a little in her bed as her eyes focus on the other woman, apparently more of a reaction than she had been planning on giving. Wordlessly, she accepts the mug as Niki approaches with one hand close to her lap; the other closes the book without a word. "Heh. Wasn't…expecting to see you." is her statement. She isn't quite sure how to feel yet, and it shows.

The other blonde finishes the handover, and then looks back to Elle. "How're you doing?" She -looks- okay. Or more-or-less okay. Though being a prisoner for a month isn't really "okay".

Elle 's eyes stay on Niki's face for a moment, before dropping to the flowers poking their heads out of the mug in her lap. "I'm fine," she says conservatively, lifting her fingers to gently play with the fringes of one of the daisies. "Better than I /was/. It's nice to be getting some real food." As opposed to, well. You know. Plus some other things, too!, which are implied.

Niki just looks horribly guilty. "I'm sorry we couldn't get you out sooner. We were trying…I told them where you were when I left, but Adam and Huruma moved too fast."

A small smile bites at Elle's lips, though it holds little warmth. "No, it's not like I blame you for /that/. Once you left, things got a little better anyway. A little less intense." Despite the best effort of her captors, in the end, there really isn't any torture like the violent kind. Reminders of memories play at the back of her mind, unpleasantly, and the stem of the daisy gets a little twist.

Niki looks a little hopeful at the thought that it improved for Elle…and then her expression slips a little. "Did it get better because of how they treated you…or how I wasn't?" Well, not her, technically. But she very easily assumes responsibility for how Jessica acts. The expression on her face clearly hopes it's the former.

But at that, Elle just exhales swiftly, heavily. "What do you think, Niki? Yeah, without my own personal Iron Maiden, I should /think/." That should answer at least part of Niki's question. After another second, in a voice that's simultaneously grouchier and somewhat less biting: "I don't want to talk about it."

Niki looks stricken, but she nods. "I understand. Is there anything I can get for you, or anything I can do?" It's very clear that she's trying to make up for her misdeeds in some way. "Have they said when you get to get out of here?"

"Oh, there /is/ something you can do, but for your sake." Elle smoothly replaces that strand of hair again, which had once more fallen free onto her shoulder. How pesky. "Don't let me see Jessica again. If I do, I'm not entirely sure I could stop myself from doing something awful." She raises an eyebrow at Niki meaningfully, still softly picking at the petals closest to her.

The other woman looks back to Elle, seeming sympathetic. "We're doing our best on that. Dr. Salonga got her well…put very far in the back, at least. It hasn't been a problem since." Except once.

That touches on the other point Elle had been wondering about, but only after looking to make sure the message had sunk in completely. Agent Bishop isn't the type to joke about that sort of thing, after all. With a sigh, she places the flowers on the dresser next to her with a tiny /thump/. "So I heard you're gonna be with us now, huh."

Niki nods. "Well, that seems to be the plan. I'm partnered up with Gwendolyn now." She's not sure that Elle knows her or not. "We're working on trying to see if I can access my strength without…well. The same things that you had me start."

This brings a slight smirk to Elle. "Yeah, I suppose there's only a point to 'one of us, one of them' if one of them /has/ a power, huh. How's that coming for you?"

Niki shrugs once. "Not so reliable yet…but I managed to use it once so far, when we were trying to take down two of these…well, rampaging Evolved people."

Elle almost comes back with 'Like yourself?' /Almost/. But she manages to hold it in. "Which 'rampaging Evolved people' are you referring to?" She's missed a lot, after all. Maybe this is just something that occurred during her absence, like many other things.

Niki looks over to the other agent. "There's something going around where there've been…well, maniacal Evolved rampaging, and whatever's going on they die on the spot. Messily."

Nope. Elle definitely hasn't heard about this. Thanks to recent circumstances, and now being cooped up in here, she's a little more behind on the times than she usually would be as an agent. The sharp look she gives Niki indicates for her to keep going.

Niki looks a little. "Not 100 percent sure. I know they've shown up at least twice, both times in pairs, both times different people, of course. They go on an animalistic rampage, destroying everything in sight, and then they collapse into…well, it's being called "cherry cobbler" around here, for what it looks like.

Hm! How puzzling. "Sooo is it like, a disease, or the /symptoms/ of one, or what?" Niki's description is slightly perplexing to Elle.

Niki shrugs her shoulders once. "Odessa is looking into it, and Peter's been handling most of the actual investigation. We got tested, and neither of us was showing anything odd, so if it's a disease, it doesn't seem contagious through the normal course."

"So I take it it's one-hundred percent fatal?" Elle rejoins, fingering the bookmark right beneath her grasp. She'll definitely have to be getting some more info about this when she's out. "…Some kind of weird virus?"

A nod by way of answer. "None of them have lived more than a few minutes of getting back here, even with Peter's powers to get them back here faster. I can try to get some information together for you if you like." Something to get back into her good graces.

The answer, however? "No," Elle says with a small return of her smirk, tilting her head as she considers the other woman. "I'll be able to find out firsthand on my own." It's not Niki she needs to get information through, after all.

The other Agent nods. "All right…if there's anything you need, please just ask, Elle. I'm glad to see you're doing better." That seems to be her farewell, as she backs up towards the door.