Participants:
| Scene Title | <Nitro> |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | <Tracy Strauss hires Paul Heart to help in case anyone learns her secret.> |
| Date | <June 22, 2009> |
Description of location, if any.
Monday afternoon, and Tracy … let's say Tracy is having a very bad day. She knows, now. She hopes Matt Parkman doesn't. It's all over TV, pictures of Tracy being held down by a gunman, a weapon to her head. Then everything gets…fuzzy. Messy. Whatever is happening on stage is blocked by fleeing people, screaming, shaking cameras pointed every which way during a stampeed. And then? There's Tracy.
She walks right into Paul Heart's office without announcing herself, or having the secretary call ahead. She just walks in, looking very unhappy. Her hair is mused, but otherwise she seems unharemed.
Paul rises from his desk when she comes in, his secretary looking a little haggard as she just walks past her he waves her off, he was just working on paperwork after all. He smiles softly, "Miss Strauss, a pleasure to see you again."
Tracy doesn't say anything. Her small, pink tongue slips out to wet her lips as she tilts her head, peering after the secretary vanishes behind the doors. Once the doors are closed, firmly, still she waits, at least a moment or two. She lifts her hand, offering him what appears to be a slip of paper. Her eyes, her demeanor - she's perfectly calm. "Consider this your retainment fee."
Paul looks down at the checque, frowning a little, "Retainment fee? Has something happend?" He does step around his desk to take stock of her as she stands there.
Tracy continues to stand, check offered out. She thinks about something, but instead, decides just to speak. It's easier that way, and makes more sense. One never can be too careful. "Why don't you accept the fee and give me attorney-client privlilage? You can even pour me a drink afterwards." Because, yes. Tracy needs a drink.
Paul hmmms softly, and nods, "whether I accept the case or not, you are under attorny client privledge just by walking in here as far as I am concerned" He does take the check though, putting it in his breast pocket
Tracy lets him take the check. It's signed. Dated. She thought about putting the time on there, but knew it wasn't necessary. "Forgive me if I don't simply accept promises. My job is to make promises come true, not to trust that they will." And her job is even worse than that, because she has to make other people's promises come true. And now, the big moment. With a sigh,
Tracy steps toward the desk, lifting a pencil between her thumb and index finger. She holds up it, between the two of them, and as he watches, the pencil begins to frost over blue, crinkling and crunching as it freezes, steam rising as the ice contrasts the warm air. And then, she hands the pencil over to him.
Paul takes the pencil, he lets it dance a little at the first cold shock. The lights become much more intimate, and accepting, he smiles, "So….you have discovered something about yourself…that you were not expecting?"
"I've taken the test." She notes the lighting, his smile, and she shakes her head. "Don't be coy with me over this, Mister Heart. This is a very serious problem - so serious of one taht I don't think you quite comprehend it. My intrests are now your intrests since you took that check, and I have nothing to be smiling about."
Paul nods, "YOu are not registered I assume? And when you said taken the test…I assume this wouldn't be such a surprise if it was positive."
"This has been happening for all of…" She pauses, checking her rolex. "..an hour and five minutes. Yes, the test was negative." She folds her arms under her breasts, watching him, shaking her head. "I can't register," She says, her resolve clearly weak for the first time. "They'll accuse me of lying, Nathan Petrelli will be accused of covering for me. It'll be a scandal." And she doesn't want to let her position go.
Paul says, "That and they will treat you like they do the rest of the evolved. Like second class citizens." He puts a hand on her shoulder, "I am here for you, if you need me. I do understand, the way others can not.""
Tracy steps away from his hand, shaking her head. "I in no way believe that evolved are treated like second-class citizens. What I do believe in is the man I work for. I believe in my job, and I believe Nathan Petrelli can make things…better. I can't break the law, but that's what they'll say I did anyway. Thats why I'm here, not for your political grandstanding. I don't work for you."
He says, "No I work for you, and you are the one I am worried about, there will be no political grand standing here, and I will admit I don't care about Mr. Petrelli, I only care about you right now. And making sure you stay safe. you know by not reporting this you /will/ be breaking the law?"
Tracy knows. She hates it, but she knows. Covering her face she paces by the window, shaking her head. A sigh escapes, she folds her arms again and nods. "I'll have to resign." She finally decides, giving a slightly more firm nod. Slightly. "With the resignation, I can wait a little bit until my name's out of the limelight and I can register privately." her voice is flat. Her career, everything. It's over.
Paul says, "How much control do you have…how much cn you effect…that will decide what tier you are put in…if it is high…your name will become public anyway…""
Tracy chuckles, a dry, rueful chuckle. But she's not angry, for some reason. She's still doing her job. She's still the Communications Director. "It might be a bit of a long wait, I admit. I can't…do much." She motions to the pencil. "It's like…nytro glycerin, is that what it's called, the liquid ice?"
He says, "Nitro Glycerine is the explosive used in Dynamite." He suddenly looks at the pen, "Is that explosive now?""
What's a man like Paul Heart really need a lamp for anyway? The thought crosses Tracy's mind as she reaches forward, one finger, just one, barely touching the stem of the light. The frost travles from her touch, along the metal, making it creak and groan. The light bulb splutters, trying to hold on to life, but finally succumbs. And then she simply pushes it over onto his desk, causing it to crash and for the entire top half to shatter into thousands of icy peices. Cold blue eyes turn up to him. "Does that help?"
Paul blinks and jumps as it shatters, "Well…it's not nitro glycerine at least. That much Nitro would have leveled the office." He looks at her, "But still with that level of power, you will be put on public watch list, which means the newsies will see it, no matter how long you wait…unless you wait till petrilli is out of office.
Tracy nods as she listens. "It's not even my choice to make. I'll speak with Nathan." Nathan. Not Petrelli. Not the president. Nathan. Being a Washington Insider must be fin. "It's his name that's on the line, not mine. I'll tell him everything, and if he asks me for my resignation, I'll give it to him, and I'll register."
Paul nods, "If your /sure/ you want to do that? Trust your life to him? I will stand by you whatever you decide, I just want you to consider every descion before taking those steps.
Tracy shakes her head a little, turning to look at Paul. "I'm very good at my job." That might be a bit out of left feild for him, but for her it's everything. "I can fix this, but if I'm going to try and do that, I need to register…now. It can't wait."
Paul nods, "I can have the paperwork drawns up and submitted this evening, Though the standard is then for you to be brought in, tested and interrogated, your powers will be examined, thier limits set, an you will be rated.
And then she remembers. As if she could have forgotten. Tracy's a porcelain-skinned doll normally, but she goes a shade whiter. Turning away, she tries to cover this thought by staring out the window. "I…I can't register." She sounds almost…rattled.
Paul pauses sensing something there, "Why not?"
"Issues of national security, lets just leave it at that." She turns to face him, another light bulb going off in her head, this one a bit more pleasant. But only a bit. "So what exactly am I looking at here? And what would you recommend? Because I'm going to touch you just to see what would happen if you blindly agree with me one more time. Grow a pair, Heart, and start talking."
Paul smiles darkly, "Ok These are you options, honestly. We can file…you can make this public….they will take the steps in question..it will not be pretty, we can delay, you will always wonder if they will find out, and when they do, when you do file, you will be accused of delaying, and lieing. We can not file, that will require a lot more massaging to pull off, but as long as you never file, you can claim you didn't know till you are caught…if you are caught, and you already know the test won';t catch you.
Tracy has already made her decision, but even her lawyer needs to be played. "Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Consider this your open floor time." Her round tush leans back against the wall as she watches him, waiting for his words and doing her best to make it look like she's taking his opinion into consideration. She's good at that.
"I would assume you would be classified as Tier 2…if not the rumored tier 3. As such your name would go on the internet right away, the rest of your life those people will have your name and address and power anytime they want. The newsies will eat it up of course, and the interrogations I understand are not pretty. Option two is living a lie, depending on how long we wait, it will get to a point where ou will either have to lie, or commit total suicide publicly."
"I thought we agreed no more grandstanding, Mister Heart." In truth, she's thought about what it will mean. It's not pretty, but at the same time FRONTLINE and the Linderman Act…those are her babies as much as they are Petrelli's. They served a purpose. They serve a purpose. But this is about something so much bigger. "I'm not going to register. Not yet. But my reasons aren't your reasons."
"I am not grandstanding, There is no press here, or public, I am merely giving you the facts." and to be honest he is not even using his powers to put emphasis to his words. "Do you want to share your reasons?""
"No. National security reasons, like I said. Unless you have a TS-5 1.3 or higher, it's going to have to remain that way." In truth, even TS-5 1.3 doesn't know what she does. No one does. It's jarring. "I have to wonder, will this remain between you and me? Allof it?"
Paul blinks, "Of course it will. What kind of man do you take me for, Miss. Strauss?"
Tracy continues to watch him, icy blue in her eyes. "A man who has substantial information on me that I would rather not have to discuss or hear about again for some time. It's within my rights to make sure that you and I are on the same page."
He says, "You live in DC, you can't swing a cat there without hitting a dozen lawyers, you came to me…why?""
Tracy cocks her head to the side. "I live in New York now, and most of those lawyers I'd hit are politicians. You aren't one of those yet, and you've also proven to me how much you abhore the Linderman Act. I already knew I wouldn't be able to register right away, but I sitll need protection in case the worst happens. Can you think of someone better?"
Paul nods, "But if you doubted you could trust me…at least as far as you could throw me, I doubt you would be here right now….no I am not going to speak to anyone about this, or turn you in…the next question is…do we need to prepare to say you tried to register today?
Tracy shakes her head. "No." It's quite simple, really. Just, no. "I can manage on my own, I think. You're my last resort. If there's one thing you ever want to know about me, Mister Heart, it's that I always have more than one plan and one defense. Lets just say that layering is in." And he's her bottom layer.
Paul nods and returns to his chair then, "I will make sure your defense is in place then, when this all falls apart….if you do need anything…you know where yo can find me.
Tracy nods. "I do." She says, and that seems to be the end of the meeting. A rather curt ending, that. He saw her though, for a brief few minutes. She was scared, confused, worried, but she buried it again. But Paul Heart has seen Tracy in some weakened state. She turns for the door.
Paul says, "Miss Strauss….Tracy…you need to talk…even if it is not about the case…you need to just talk…I am here. I will keep it all confidential, and I will never judge you, no matter what."
Tracy shakes her head to him. "I wouldn't worry about me, if I were you. Talking is the least of my concerns." After all, two hours ago she had a gun pointed at her head. The knob turns and
Tracy heads out the door.