No Rest for the Non-Wicked

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Scene Title	No Rest For The Non-Wicked
Synopsis	Liz and Cat talk over the Tyler Case investigation, since Cat has the full file.
Date	March 13, 2009

Cat's Apartment

Logfile from Elisabeth.

Time has passed since the raid of that rusty warehouse on Staten Island, and even more since the one which freed Deckard, guest starring Claire Bennet and the unknown guy with the blue flaming hands. Mr. Oleander Thespuda was brought to the fourth floor of this place and given shelter for the day, then taken to the police station where Elisabeth works shortly after four p. m., as the officer had instructed. Care had been taken to not have the man's face be captured on traffic cameras.

Now, twenty-four hours and change after she and the blonde officer had split up, with Cat's confusion vanishing soon as she got clear of Norton Trask just like switching on a light, she's in her penthouse. Case files regarding a man named Tyler and the things happening around him are in her office area; the resident herself is currently wearing a sports bra and a pair of shorts while busy in her workout room.

Elisabeth comes by before going on duty, having verified last night that Cat has her copies of the files safely stowed. She knocks this morning, and she's carrying a tray with gourmet coffees in it. When Cat opens the door to let her in, she offers it with a grin. "Morning."

She does indeed let her in, after taking a minute or two crossing the floor to reach the doors. Reaching this top floor wasn't a problem for Elisabeth, arrangements have been made to let her access the hidden elevator buttons for these three upper levels. The camera mounted above those doors tells her who's arrived, as well.

"Morning," she agrees with a nod. "It is that." Cat stands aside to give room, and her eyes take on a look of anticipation. "Coffeee." Standing there, it can be easily seen she has a very purple bruise extending below the sports bra on her left side, the contours of it suggesting part is hidden under the garment.

Liz winces at the sight of the bruise. "Damn, woman…. that's a nice one," she whistles quietly. She shares the cups of coffee and moves to sip from hers. "Things are definitely crazy lately." She runs a hand through her hair. "Between Deckard and Cardinal's escapes from custody creating uproar and chaos, and now HomeSec descending and removing things from case files, I swear to God… I thought Harvard was going to have a stroke yesterday."

"Yes," Cat agrees, choosing not to comment on how she got it. Elisabeth probably doesn't want to know about that escapade. The doors are closed behind her guest, and she begins moving across the floor to a seating area which isn't the kitchen and therefore isn't all the way across the residence. She remains standing to let her sit first, taking one of the cups only after Elisabeth is seated. "Deckard escaped?" she asks. "And who's Cardinal?"

Elisabeth blows out a breath. "Has it really been that long? Geeeez." She sighs and eyes Cat. "As if you didn't know Deckard escaped." She smiles slightly, clearly already in the know on that one. If Cat wants to play games, well… whatever. "Cardinal's someone that one of the guys and I busted last week who had the cell down the hall from Deckard and just frigging vanished out of it. Come to find out, he was also on the team that went last night." She shakes her head. "I'm losing my mind."

She chuckles. "I wasn't certain if you wanted to know anything about that. So I asked as if I didn't know, for your plausible deniability." A slow breath is drawn in, and Cat winces a bit. "Kevlar's effective," she remarks, before gesturing for the blonde to sit and be comfortable. "But getting shot in it feels like a sledghammer blow."

"Cardinal. I'd heard that name before. Which one on the team was he?"

There's an emphatic nod. "Yeah… I know. Believe me." She's been hit before. "Sorta like getting kicked by a horse, and you have this whole second or so to think 'oh shit… this is gonna hurt like a motherfucker' about the time you realize you can't breathe," Elisabeth laughs. "He's … some kind of shadow walker or something. Stealth type."

She nods. "It's a feeling I'll never forget," Cat deadpans. "I meant what was he doing in last night's action so I can put a name to the face. I didn't see anyone shadow walking there."

Elisabeth ohs! She laughs softly. "Damn… you can tell my mind's out of it, totally missed that. He's the one who came out with Abby over his shoulder. Sorry." She shakes her head. "Once you dropped us off, I pretty much crashed for themorning…. after I spent some time talking to Trask. It was….." She pauses. "Yeah. It just was." No words for it, not really.

"I can imagine," Cat replies in a hushed voice. Such a reunion was something she couldn't pull off for her own beloved. But she doesn't spend much time dwelling on it. "The one carrying Abby. Thanks. And… who were the large African lady, and the one with the fieriness? There's more players in this arena than I have knowledge about." The helicopter pilot she can and will ask Teo about, Cat's been inspired there. The near future will feature reading about how to fly such machines, and very possibly buying one.

There's a shake of her head. "I have no idea. I didn't catch names of … well, wait, I caught the name "Mags" but that's it…. I don't even know where most of those people CAME from, just that Teo said go with them. And they were pretty good. The guy I was talking to when you got there was Jake something. He didn't give me a last name."

"I remember that," Cat answers. "He was connected to the pilot." She rolls her eyes a bit, the way he stepped in when she was making progress and took over before she could suggest the same thing for Oleander. Men. This, too, is something she doesn't want to linger on.

"I looked through the files you sent me. Thanks."

Finally she moves to sit down, though Liz doesn't relax. "Hang onto them. They may be the only copy of Sawyer's information that we have. She came and purged the system today."

"Interesting," Cat replies, not sounding surprised. "We know the Company is secretive. It was only a matter of time before they moved to eliminate all traces of someone they're after. Take care, Elisabeth," she advises somberly, "they don't seek to erase it from your brain too." Her mind turns from that to the contents of those files, calling the pages up one by one.

And she sits also, taking a sip from her coffee. Her eyes close, she inhales and delights in the aroma, her expression clearly one of enjoyment.

Elisabeth shrugs. "They don't care about the kid, or so they say. Sawyer just claimed she was in the right place at the right time, saw the kid getting manhandled, and stepped in. The goo, aside from marking her as the only LIVING victim of this kid's power, isn't much use to us anyway. And she really didn't seem to know anythign that would help us. Now… whether she was lying? I have no way to tell."

"The first person killed in this, found on February 18th and initially investigated by Detective Richard Myron, Detective Ezra Grimes, and Detective Damaris of SCOUT was dismembered. Witnesses claimed the killing was committed by the Devil himself…" Cat's voice stops as she continues to call up the report segments pertaining to that initial situation.

"Yeah…. between me, you, and the fence post? We're pretty sure we know who that was and there's a whole shitstorm brewing in Chinatown over it. My partner for the case and I are heading out there in the next day or so to do some interviews, and …. I'm expecting it not to be pretty. For God's sake, if I don't come back outta Chinatown, send someone to get me, okay?" She's sort of joking… but sort of not.

"There was a shapeshifting ability involved, and intense strength also," Cat remarks as the data is called up. "But the strength may be a false impression. There are photos of claw marks being made in a wall, which indicates sharpness and hardness more so than strength, yes? Who do you believe the alleged Satan is?"

Elisabeth shakes her head. "Right now? We believe it to be Chang Ye. But there are only four other people on the planet we're trusting with that information right now, so don't even write it down anywhere." She grimaces. "*Basically*, what we're thinking happened at this point is that Tyler Case either 1) owed money or 2) was somehow otherwise involved with the Triads and when they came after him to collect, he got scared and his power went nuts — it *appears* that he has the power to draw out latent Evo abilities. So the demon on the loose, we *think* is one of the biggest Triad crime bosses." She rubs her face. "Which is a whole big ugly ball of wax there. So anyway, the second guy, we believe was another of Chang Ye's enforcers. And we know from Deckard that Asian guys had Case in their possession when the Homeland agents raced into the alley — now whether they were chasing Case himself or just happened on this situation is up in the air. Their claim that they just happened on it is certainly POSSIBLE, though even if that's the case, I'd imagine that they're going to be looking for Tyler Case now even if they weren't before."

In silence she listens, with the relevant bits of the case files she read entering the mental eye along with it. Once the officer has finished, Cat nods once. "Chang Ye. The theory is he had the ability and it was activated by Tyler Case in the encounter? Or perhaps he knew of it already, and Mr. Case caused him to lose control?"

She mulls that over briefly, then moves along. "The second death was by electrical force." The relevant area of record is accessed now, and reviewed. "Evidence suggested the man was killed by his own ability?"

"That's the explanation we're leaning toward at this moment, I think, yes," Elisabeth replies. "Or possibly an ability of someone else in the group — that's come up in light of the third situation. Because Sawyer, so far as I've been told, is absolutely *not* Evolved. But we believe Brian's clone was with her, and well… that'd be consistent with his ability, maybe? Without getting hold of Case, we won't know for sure. But so far, honestly, it looks like this kid hasn't actually done anything WRONG; that his actions have either been accidental or self-defense. Though that's for his lawyer to deal with."

Her eyebrows raise sharply. The mention of Brian being in the mix draws the whole thing into sharp focus for Cat. Her mental picture shifts to the records of the third scene, where forensics reports the DNA was from Veronica Sawyer, non-evolved person, three bodies worth of that amniotic fluid. Then there's what she was told Deckard had said. Veronica had something growing out of her body. Now, to hear Brian was also present, a man with the ability to clone himself…

"Someone out there has been experimenting, Elisabeth."

Elisabeth looks curious. This is why she brought it all to Cat — in the hopes that the other woman might make connections that Liz can't.

"I've seen things like this before," Cat begins. "Here in Greenwich Village. One man had energy abilities, he was destroying things with it, causing explosions. Another, at the same time, was injuring people with acid from his hands. Both of those persons melted, in the way Agent Sawyer did. A Company agent arrived at the scene shortly after that to investigate and take charge, flashing a DHS badge. Agent Peter Petrelli, namely. Gillian Childs was also witness to this, along with a teleporting man who removed her from the scene at Peter's and my insistence before any other agents arrived. I don't believe he made any report of us being present, but I can't guarantee that." Her eyes rest on the blonde's face as she takes a few beats of silence, to let what she's sharing be taken in and mulled over.

"Later, when we were ramping up against the Vanguard, Doctor Ray told Helena and I that in the documents received from the future the Shanti virus had merged with a chemical agent designed to install abilities in the non-Evolved, which failed. It caused cellular breakdowns. Melting."

Elisabeth slowly shakes her head. "I don't think that's what's happening here, honestly. Because of the suspicion that Brian was present, I'm more inclined to believe that Sawyer got out of range of Case quickly enough that the clones never took full shape."

"Consider the evidence. Agent Fulk, Agent Sawyer, and Tyler Case were all present. Agent Sawyer, who by all accounts isn't Evolved, manifested the same ability as Brian, or started to. The result was melted remains similar to what I've seen myself, and matching what Doctor Ray described. It's as if Brian's ability was somehow transferred from Brian to his partner by Mr. Case, but due to her being unevolved the clones created were unstable and collapsed into pools of amniotic fluid."

Again, Elisabeth shakes her head in the negative. "It doesn't fit the facts of the case, Cat," she insists. "I realize you're a hell of a lot smarter than me, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, if you get my drift. I think you're looking too deeply into it and seeing conspiracy everywhere — you can't make those kinds of leaps without significantly more factual information than these files can provide, in my opinion."

"Still," Cat asserts, "Mr. Case remains in danger both from the Triads and from DHS, despite being guilty of nothing other than existing and having an ability. The Company, through the hands of their associates with DHS, have purged police records regarding their connection to it. This tells me they have something to hide. I should like to at least know firsthand what his ability is, to see it in action, and attempt to help him find safe harbor."

Elisabeth nods slightly. "I do agree that he's likely to vanish if DHS or the Company gets to him first, that much is true. But if I find him, I'm bringing him in." She looks at Cat regretfully. "It's my job, Cat — but based on the evidence we've managed to gather so far, I think he's going to need a *really* good lawyer. If you want, I can make the call to you when we get him. Otherwise…. I may summon Paul Heart to the station before we get him there. He's likely to be a good advocate here, and get it a lot of media coverage so the kid can't go missing."

"On what charge?" Cat asks quietly. "You said yourself he hasn't done anything wrong, his actions are accidental or self-defense." One hand reaches out, she lifts her cup and sips from it slowly.

Elisabeth sips from her coffee. "I said 'it LOOKS like the kid hasn't actually done anything wrong,'" Liz replies. "But he's been on the scene of three incidents, so he's going to be brought in for questioning. No doubt about it. Getting him out is up to his lawyer."

You say, "It just means he's a person of interest as the case moves forward, not a suspect."

"I'll buy that," Cat replies with a nod. "But people brought in to be asked things of generally don't get made to stay, when they aren't suspects being charged. They generally get advised to not leave town. If you take him in, and your bosses learn he's at the station, word may get out to the folks from DHS, and he'll be disappeared."

Elisabeth smiles a little. "Hence why the proactive call to either you or Paul Heart — depends on whether you're planning to start stepping up to practice law for people who need it most or not."
You are carrying:
.Liz(#667p)
You have 3166 subway tokens.
She nods again, replying "If, of course, he secures the advice of an attorney before any law enforcement agency locates him, that attorney should advise him he is of interest in an investigation and should tell the attorney all he knows. The attorney would then forward that information to the police, and if, only if, the police decide to make formal charges would the client be advised to surrender himself."

"If I'm his attorney, I'd not charge him a fee. That would just be starting down the road to a corporate box." The very thought makes her shudder a bit.

Elisabeth laughs softly at her. "Well, I can't tell him all those things if I'm the one who finds him. The best I can do is tell you to 'happen' to be at the precinct looking for me when we come in with him." She sets her coffee cup down. "But for what it's worth, right this minute? It's really looking to me like a full-fledged self-defense case, not murders."

"True," Cat replies. "All you can tell him is what you have to tell him." She lifts her cup again, drinking from it slowly, before lowering it again. "This is just the least of messes to attend to," she murmurs. Her head tilts to one side, and she asks a question of the officer. "What does our movement lack most, Elisabeth?"

There's a tilt of Liz's head. "How do you mean?"

"You've attended University and graduated, so you've studied history more than most people, I'd imagine. Think back about successful movements and what they had, compare and contrast them against ours, tell me what we don't yet have," Cat answers. Her features are speculative, reflecting interest in what she'll hear, as the cup is partaken of again.

Elisabeth considers the question, leaning back on the couch to give it serious thought. "A couple of things, honestly. A defined set of goals — 'we're in it for these particular things and here's why, here's how we're going to accomplish them, and when we do, we'll re-evaluate whether we have more to do' kinds of definitions. We're pretty amorphous right now, very fly-by-night. We're all about 'justice for the oppressed,' but what does that really mean for us? That'd be the primary thing I see us missing."

"The Founders faced these same questions," Cat replies with her head nodding a few times, "and the result was the Declaration of Independence, signed by representatives from not just one faction or state at one end of the country, but by delegations from thirteen colonies. They then formed a national organization to coordinate activities, and advanced leaders on that stage. After they achieved their goal, they forged the most durable written constitution in the world. Part of that was the Federalist Papers. Movements since then have followed that pattern. Woman suffrage, civil rights, labor. We haven't yet."

"The first thing we need is a sympathetic figure to rally behind. A national figure."

Elisabeth mmms softly. "The problem is that the figurehead has to be someone everyone can relate to. Getting a movement like that going in this day and age? Far harder than it was back then, when the media digs out all your dirty little secrets and parades them before the public, who then turns sanctimonious. Look at the LGBT movement."

"Nothing worthwhile is easy." Cat states. "We can't win as we are, with small operations which are only local in scope. And we won't end the fear of us either." She goes briefly quiet, ending the beats of silence by saying "The questions of whether we're patriots and freedom fighters or terrorists and traitors ultimately come down to that fundamental truth. The Founders are revered figures only because they won."

There's a faint grin. "Well, you've got that right," Elisabeth comments. "I think we're in a good position right now to start looking at some long-term goals. Not 'we gotta break our people out of jail' or 'we gotta get back our kidnapped Girl Hostage,' but 'what do we want people to know about Phoenix?' The Miracles was a real good start… we need more projects like that."

"Very true. Kinson's working on some things now," Cat comments. "We'd have done more, but we found our attentions occupied by the Vanguard and since with finding the missing, working to address the imprisoned. We can use media projects there, too. Helena Dean makes a sympathetic figure. The feds won't counter anything we say, because if they did, well, they need to show proof. And if the truth came out, that she's in prison for daring to stop the release of a dangerous virus, that only makes us look good."

"Thomas Jefferson wrote governments get power from the consent of the governed. He didn't mean it should be that way. He meant it is that way."

Elisabeth mmms quietly. "If it ever comes out — the problem is that right now? We're the ones who have no proof of what we did. As I pointed out to Jennifer. I tried. I turned everything we had over to Harvard, *and* I alerted the Company through Jessica. No one did anything."

"That's why we haven't made it all public," Cat states. "It was a Catch-22. Survival demanded destroying the proof." And her eyes cloud over. Jennifer. It's a sore subject, one Cat won't comment upon. "But if they had to defend her being in prison, they can't prove she destroyed a bridge all by herself. A woman not even twenty years old, who just wanted to garden and go to culinary school. The fact she's not had a trial works in our favor."

Elisabeth replies quietly, "They *can* potentially prove that the lightning that sanitized the truck was hers, though." Which could potentially be ugly. "At the very least, they can attempt to make that case against her." She shrugs a bit. "We did what we had to, even with that, but… none of us are exactly clean, either, Cat. Sea View had bodies on the ground, ConEd had bodies on the ground…. "

"Self-defense. We showed up to prevent them attacking the United States, they opened fire, and they died." Cat pauses there, adding afterward "It's the hardest part to swallow, but the non-Vanguard people present, they were already dead. What happened to them in the battles was both merciful and defensive."

Holding up a hand, Elisabeth says, "You're preaching to the choir. I'm pointing out that they COULD try to make that case, and it's POSSIBLE that a jury would believe them and not us."

She nods emphatically. "Very true. My point is I'd gladly put it all out into the open and let the people decide. But I certainly wouldn't, and won't, do it without being able to back up every single point with documentation and concrete proof. If we even tried as things stand, we're just conspiracy theory nutjobs. It'd be prison, a psych ward, or… the psych ward of a prison."

"Exactly," Elisabeth says quietly. "So…. keep working on it. If you see a way out of that conundrum, we have it made in the shade, m'dear." She smiles slightly. "I need to get back out there. You got anything major going on this weekend?"

"Not much, except maybe talking with Teo and mulling over ways to get people out of prison." Cat's eyes close. "We won't just leave them there to rot. Even if it looks like passing through a needle's eye is easier, we'll try to do just that." Moments later she reopens them and stands. "What about you?"

Elisabeth shakes her head. "The Tyler Case investigation's taking a lot of time, but I'm also on call for any other Evolved thing that pops up, so…." She pauses and admits, "Been dealing with a lot of suicides and attempted suicides lately."

"No rest for the non-wicked," Cat deadpans.