Participants:
| Scene Title | Not Getting Involved |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Having had more than her share of adventure, Niki insists to Elisabeth that she's not getting involved in current events. |
| Date | June 14, 2009 |
Apartment of Elisabeth Harrison
Lazy Sunday morning? Sort of. Elisabeth's up, showered, and dressed casually in jeans, a scoop-necked T-shirt, and bare feet when she opens the front door to see Niki in all her new-haircut glory standing there. Or is it Jessica? Liz honestly won't be certain until the woman speaks. She merely holds the door open and allows her entry. "You're a sight for sore eyes," she tells the other woman. "I was half wondering if you'd hightailed it out to some tiny town in Iowa to get out of Dodge," she admits as she closes the door behind Niki. The apartment has clearly undergone some renovations recently — there's unpainted drywall near the windows and the front door. There's also a can of paint sitting behind the front door, as if Liz is thinking to do the painting today.
Rose pages: 'Morning.
On the way over, Niki considered if she was doing the smart thing here. Jessica obviously had her own opinions on things, but Niki has had pretty good control of the situation so far and though they bickered back and forth on the way — and on public transportation, it's quite the journey — Niki in the end put her foot down and let it be known that this was how it was going to be. That being said, she seemed nervous as hell when she reached to knock on the door. Those fears seem to vanish when Liz opens the door and greets her with a smile. The nervously bitten lip is released as Niki rocked back and forth on the heels of her worn sneaker, and offers up a smile. "Hey, Liz."
She enters the apartment and a curious glance is taken. "Painting today? Looks like you remodeled." She at least knows it wasn't Jessica doing her version of remodeling. "Iowa? I don't think so. Considered Nebraska for a time, but ended up on Staten."
It's Niki, and because it's Niki, Liz reaches out and enfolds the other blond — well, former blonde, now medium brown for the moment — into a tight hug. "Staten's a pit… should have known that's where you'd go to ground. Just…. for Christ's sake, be careful. My sending you to Staten's how you got nabbed out to Moab last time," she reminds. "If you go back out there and need help … stop off at Chicago Air and ask for Jake Hunter. Tell him I sent you… can't promise what KIND of help you'll get, but he's a good man. And I gather that the people he works for out there are good people too." She smiles a bit, releasing Niki, and says quietly, "No one's really told me what happened to you in 2019. You okay?" The only thing Liz really knows is that she and Niki/Jessica remained friends… Trask mentioned that much.
The hug is received warmly, as Niki — and yes, it's Niki — returns the hug just as warmly as it's given. "Well, Abby has me staying at her place for the time being. I'm off the island officially now, it seems. I -" speaking of the future "- had a few things to sort out with my counterparts. The future was enlightening.. frustrating.. enfuriating," she grins a little, "and just a little bit pleasant." She remembers spending some time with future-Liz. "I just needed some place to be alone." Of course, Niki could never truly be alone.
With a grimace, Elisabeth says, "I can't imagine. What little I do know sounds absolutely incredible, truth be told. But if I didn't believe it, I guess I wouldn't be still doing what I'm doing." She sighs. "Glad you went to see Abby," she says with a smile.
The future. It's far more frustrating for Niki now in hindsight — or is it hindsight? Good question. She was close to splitting off each of her personalities and then to get tugged back before it was completed. She's not sure which is better, before when they were entirely seperate, or at least having a clue what each of her other selves are up to. Not that she gives them much of a chance to cause any problems. Of course, Niki has been rather out of the loop, so she asks, "What exactly is it you've been doing?" a look of curiosity on her face.
Blowing out a breath, Liz says quietly, "Well…. basically working on taking down both the Company *and* Pinehearst? I gather from what you people learned in the future, Arthur Petrelli is the Antichrist?" She's sort of joking on the last part, but mostly not.
"I wouldn't know anything about that. It was mostly Jessica who was in the future who dealt with the future. And you know that Jessica is all about Jessica." Niki sits and explains the situation where she was going to split off each personality — they had a way in the future, it seems — only to get sucked back to the past before it was completed. "Right now, It's been me. I get nagged in the background on occasion, but there's been no reason for either of them to resurface. I'm hoping it stays that way. As for the other stuff, I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help. The others seem to be all over that." She glances over at the wall. "So.. who busted in.. or was it busting out?"
Elisabeth mms quietly. "In point of fact, Jessica's all about Niki," she tells her friend mildly. "Not that I agree with her methods or anything. She and I …" She smiles faintly. "We have an understanding of sorts. But… ultimately, she's all about protecting you at all costs." They've had this conversation before, but Liz realizes that Niki's perspective on it is far different because Jessica's actions caused the death of Micah and D.L. Glancing at the wall, Liz says, "Neither in this case. Preventive measure … the Company knows exactly who I am, and I believe Arthur Petrelli does as well. Might not do me a damn bit of good, but maybe, just maybe, it'll give me the minute needed to get an emergency teleport out of their reach." She shrugs. "Call me paranoid."
While it's true, part of what Liz says about Jessica, it hasn't really rang true for quite a while. Jessica had gotten out of control and it was time to rein her in. Niki casts a curious glance at the wall. "A teleport? What kind of teleport?" Knowing what she knows about the company, with Jessica having worked for them, she doesn't fault Liz one bit. She's already decided herself she's not getting involved if she can possibly help it.
"A person," Liz replies. And that's all she'll say. "So … here's the question. You want in or out on all this? Cuz at this point, I wouldn't blame you a bit one direction or the other," she smiles. "c'mon, have some coffee. Tell me what you actually want to do with yourself, Niki."
Niki follows Liz to the kitchen for some coffee and leans up against the counter. She doesn't ask any further about the 'person'. She only hopes there's not an actual body plastered into that wall. She accepts the mug of coffee gratefully. "What this little fight of yours? I'm out. The few people that know I'm around the better, really. I was actually doing rather well out at Staten." If you consider being homeless and eating at the soup van 'rather well'. "But I got this strange text message on my phone. Do you know Tamara? She found me on Staten and gave me this phone, and I've started getting strange text messages."
Niki reaches into her pocket and pulls out the phone. "Look." The last message on display is the one that tell her that Abigail needs her. "I don't know who it is, but he says his name is R.Ajas." Only she says it Rajas. "You know anything about this?"
Elisabeth tilts her head. "I don't know who R.Ajas is, no. But he's been in contact with me a couple times too." She frowns slightly. "He's putting things into motion that …. well, let's just say I'll be interested if we ever figure out what HIS agenda is."
"Okay. So, I can see what his interest is in you. You're all wrapped up in this.." she shrugs her shoulders. ".. whatever it is this thing you're doing that's important." Niki sets the phone down on the counter. "But I haven't been involved in a couple of months, so why me? Liz, I'm telling you right now, I'm not getting involved. Abby says I can work at Lucy's and stay at her place until I can find someplace to go. I'm tired of being fucked with by everyone, you know? I just want to be left alone." She knows it's the easy way out, maybe even the coward's way out — but after /all/ of this, how could anyone expect anything more from her.
She can't fault Niki for her feelings on this. "I don't blame you, and you should do what's best for you, Niki," Elisabeth replies quietly. "Believe me, there are days I want to throw up my hands and walk away too. I won't because…. the Volken situation convinced me that we have big problems. And I feel like I couldn't live with myself if I just walked away. But every person has to make that choice for themselves — and you've suffered more than most for your part in all this crap. So seriously…. I won't drag you into my crap if there is any way to avoid it. That doesn't mean you can't call on me and have coffee or something, though," she tells the woman with a grin.
Niki holds up her mug. "I'll drink to that." And she does. "And thanks for understanding. I don't want to have to put a teleporter in my wall." Niki can't help but grin as she says that.
Megan laughs at Niki. "Yeah… me either. Those are just door locks, you know," she comments. She touches her mug to Niki's. "To finding something resembling a normal life sometime in the future, okay?"
The two mugs clink together. "Sounds real good." Of course, there's something deep down inside Niki that has this feeling that before too long, she's going to be right in the thick of things as far as all this goes, no matter how hard she fights it.
Of course, that thought could be coming from Jessica, who would probably welcome such an opportunity.