Participants:
| Scene Title | NYPD vs. FBI — FIGHT! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Felix tells Liz that although they don't often step in, kidnapping is technically a federal offense… which she knows and which also never crossed her mind. Hoo-rah! |
| Date | March 20, 2009 |
The phones are ringing off the hook in the SCOUT squad room, and Liz didn't get the hell out of the room before it started, so she's been caught here fielding the hundred and one calls about random "Evo" crimes. She slams the phone down and looks damn near ready to scream. "Is every crime in this city Evo-related? Someone tell me that every person committing a crime out there is Evo, cuz SERIOUSLY, this is getting ridiculous!" she says very loudly. Venting steam a little.
Fel is maddeningly calm and cool, at his desk with a steaming mug of tea at his elbow. He's obviously taking details on a scratch pad in front of him. So much for a few days off - at least he's no longer in the hospital, and the wounds Deckard gave him are gone entirely. "Yes, thank you, ma'am," he says, quietly, before putting the phone down. "People are flipping their shit," he says, with a shake of their head.
Shoving a hand through her hair, Elisabeth walks away from her desk, ignores the phones, and goes over to plop in the chair in front of his desk. She's actually wearing GIRL CLOTHES today. A mid-calf length skirt of brown suede, heeled boots, a peach sweater-blouse that's cut just right to hide her innerpants holster in the waistband of the skirt. She slouches into the seat, though, distinctly less than gracefully. "This sucks," she says. "I had to go give my report to Harvard on freakin' Triad shoot, and then I hear you're getting all shot up the very next day. Jesus… Abby's getting a workout. And now the Triad's killing fucking COPS. The city is going to hell. I think I'm gonna transfer. Seriously… you think it's any better in DC?"
"No. Same damn problems, only with more politicians added to fuck things up, and less money. Not to mention looser gun laws," Fel says, in all apparent seriousness. "Yeah. We got Sylar. The motherfucker lasered me. But he was pulling his punches. Guess that change of heart was sincere." His voice remains utterly void of pity for one Gabriel Gray.
"Oh… perfect," Elisabeth grouses. "More political bullshit. What about… the Virgin Islands? Could I go there and be a cop?" she wonders aloud. "That'd so rock. Really. Sand. Surf. Warmth. Like a vacation!"
Fel's expression turns a little dreamy. "Me, I wanna police in Arcata, California. Nothing to do but gently shoo potheads out of the public square. Things are so quiet there the police blotter in the local paper is done in haiku," he says, ignoring the phone line blinking its HOLD light at him. "I shit you not."
There's a bit of a laugh there. "Potheads. God, I can't remember the last time I ran in something as simple as potheads." Liz shakes her head. "Okay…. so let's run down the week's insanity. We've…. arrested and lost Deckard. We've arrested and lost Richard Cardinal. We've… killed a head of the Triad and gotten targets painted on our backs, causing cop killings to start escalating in a big way. We've… lost Tyler Case to Homeland Security without ever actually figuring out what the guy's fucking power is. Oh, and run into Brian's clone while doing it. And we've…. arrested Sylar. Do we have a tally sheet for how we're doing?"
"It's gorgeous country. ANd full of people growing dope," Fel says, ruefully. "I don't know. Remind me again, is this Keystone City?" His face hardens at the mention of the killers. "It really chaps my ass that it's the NYPD that's getting dumped on when it was HomeSec that came in there like it was high noon at the OK Corral. It may have been warranted, but goddamn…"
Elisabeth sighs quietly. She can't help it. "The worst part is, Grimes said he had evidence to exonerate the kid of all the murders. And now…. I doubt it'll ever see the light of day, Felix." She crosses her arms. "And it was probably a good thing they came in…. considering what Chang Ye could apparently do."
He looks grim at that. "True," he concedes, flicking a pen back and forth around the knuckle of his thumb, some irritating trick picked up back during a boring college lecture, no doubt. "It won't. He's off to their oubliette, never to be heard from again. I hope that proves true for one Gabriel Gray."
There's actually some kind of a faint grin. "Their oubliette. Don't tell me you watched Labyrinth…. really?" Sometimes you just have to find humor where you can… Elisabeth's working hard on the 'accept the things you can't change' idea. HomeSec's actions? Out of her hands. Tyler Case? Ditto. So… move on. It's harder than it sounds, but in the end? She can only do her own job here.
Fel eyes her. "What, no," he saysa, with a shake of his head. "I've read Dumas," he adds, as if that should explain it. "Anyhow, a pox on both their houses, the Triads and Homesec," he reaches for his tea. "Goddamn triads don't have the balls to come at us directly."
Liz slants a look at him. "I wouldn't count on that." She's not counting on anything right now. "Remember when I used to be a hostage negotiator and you used to just be the local fairy Feeb?" She smirks. "Remarkable how fast things change."
This has Felix choking on his tea. "What did you just call me?" He sounds amused, rather than affronted, try as he might to put on an angry expression.
"You heard me," Elisabeth giggles softly.
Fel just rolls his eyes. "I was never -just- a Feeb," His tone is utterly arrogant. "Fairy, well, that i'll concede. Three strikes, huh?"
Leaning her head back, Elisabeth just grins. She's totally ignoring all the phones in this room…. in point of fact, now that they're starting to bug her, she merely encases herself and Felix in silence. No more fuckin' phones. "Tell me again you're sure we're doing the right things?" She forces a smile. "I'm trying to think of the cases I've had go right in the past couple weeks. There've been a lot. But ….. Oleander Thespuda, the guy who fell off the bridge? He came and turned himself in to Homeland the other day because of what happend to his family. His wife and kids are okay, but he doesn't trust himself not to hurt them. The DA has declined to even attempt to press charges against the people who held Abby — says it's out of jurisdiction because it's Staten Island even though she was taken right off a Manhattan street. The 36 is sort of… " She leaves that one alone. "Tyler Case is off the streets but we started a street war with the Triads. I've had six domestic disturbances, and eighteen people claiming RAPE by Evo. Cuz you know… they said yes when they meant no." She sighs.
There's that vicious, junkyard rat look in Felix's eyes when Liz mentions the buck passing re: Abby. "Fuck that. Courtesy of Little Lindbergh, any kidnapping can be considered a federal case," he says, with mock sweetness. "Rape by Evo. What the hell? Using powers as if they were roofies?" He leans back, laces fingers over his belly. "And yeah, if the triads want to try and start a war with the NYPD, they'll be in a world of hurt."
Liz pfffts. "I don't think there has been rape in any of the cases I've seen in the past three weeks," she replies. None of them are in any way … well, that's not true. Two of them I did refer to Special Victims just to have their story checked out. Not necessarily Evo related, but rape was a probability there. The rest? No. They're girls with a change of heart, every one of them. They thought they'd get some press or something, I don't know." She looks surprised. "So the FBI will take on James Muldoon and No First Name Logan? Shit, really?" She has a hopeful look. "You get me confirmation on that, please? Abby's… not handling this well, Felix. When I had to break it to her that the DA wasn't going to do shit, she … sort of freaked."
"I still have a sort of boon with the powers that be. If she wants that prosecuted, yeah. Hell, it's a huge fucking lead into a human trafficking case, and that is definitely our stock in trade," he comments, slapping the pen down. "We wanted an excuse to go fuck with Staten, the political bastards wanna look like they're tough on crime. And we can go begging to Washington and Quantico, if need be. Besides,, let's face it, there's still enough rivalry that the Bureau would love a chance to make the NYPD look like chumps," His grin is sheepish, but somehow unapologetic.
Elisabeth literally bounces upright in her seat. "YES! She fucking wants it prosecuted. Do whatever you have to. Oleander Thespuda is in HomeSec custody, but assuming he doesn't land in mutant Gitmo, he can back up her story! We took a statement from him, Shelby and me, before he changed his family back from statues. Here!" She gets up and heads for her desk, pulling the file out of her desk drawer. "Jesus… seriously, if you can prosecute it. Yes!"
Fel looks increasingly pleased with the idea. "Good," he says, simply. "Here." He pulls the golden badge from his waist, and makes a show of waving it around. "There. Bend over, New York Police Department, the Feds are on the case," He…..that's not serious, is it?
Elisabeth eyes him now. "You're not fucking around, are you? Cuz seriously, Fel… Abby's case? It's important." She moves to hand it to him warily.
His smile is gone again. "I know. Like I said - I'll use what pull I have to get this prosecuted. The NYPD won't like it, and there will be some serious bitching, but fuck, I owe her, and that refusal to press charges is bullshit."
There's a faint grimace as Elisabeth replies tightly, "Fuck the entire NYPD on this one. It is bullshit. There's absolutely no way to justify it. I don't even think Will's gonna bitch about this one much. Make the DA look as stupid as you please, I'd love to see that."
Fel leans back, steeples his fingers. "Good. 'sides, even if she herself wasn't taken over state lines….I'm sure others in that hell pit will."
"I'd kiss you for this, but I'm sure it'd make the rounds of the station like wildfire." Elisabeth grins. "But I will tell Abby that it's making its way to the federal level.
He eyes her. "Let me tell her myself, if she's working tonight?" he suggests, with a quizzical lift of his brows.
There's a slow nod. "Go ahead," Liz replies quietly. "Just…. Brian's staying with her at her new place. I don't know if he's at the bar." She looks curious. "Mind if I ask why?"
"I owe her, and I wanna talk to her about it directly," Fel says, tone rather disingenuous. "Unless she's too shellshocky to deal with people she doesn't know well. What about Brian? Not all of him work for the Company, right?"
"So far as we know, only one of them works for the Company…. and after the other day, I think maybe there are some issues with that. He didn't seem to know me, and… Brian knows me well enough by sight that I'd have thought he'd have SOME reaction." She shrugs a little. "We've been speculating that he's brainwashed and I have to say that seems a likely scenario." Elisabeth nods to him, though. "She should be okay talking with you — she knows you well enough not to freak."
"Good," he says, simply. "I wanna chance to put away the motherfucker who did that to her. So it doesn't happen again. Ever."
Elisabeth nods slightly. "Well, you've got it. Don't fuck it up, okay, FairyFeeb?" she teases lightly.
"Never call me that again," he says, only half seriously. "Or I'll be forced to prove upon your person that it doesn't apply."
He gets the outright laughter now. "You missed your chance," Liz says with a grin. She turns to head back toward her desk, hips twitching deliberately in that skirt as she moves and picks up her coffee to peer at him over the rim. "Besides, I know you.. you've got the hots for someone. I haven't figured out who yet, but I know you're not going without."
"No one but you, angel," he says, giving her a mock doe-eyed look. Mostly it just ends up looking intensely puppyish. "And no, I am suffering in chastity, I swear."
There's a 'pfft'. "Give it up, I know you're getting some." Elisabeth is dead certain of it. "Don't gimme those puppydog eyes either, I'm immune to your charms." She smiles a bit.
Fel lifts his hand, in the scout's honor gesture. "My hand to god, I'm pure as the driven snow." Well, Abby's healing did take care of the minor bruises Teo gave him last, nevermind the damage from from Sylar and Deckard.
"yeah, whatever…. TODAY, maybe." Liz rolls her eyes at him. "I gotta head out for drinks with a friend. You gonna hit Abby's?"
"I am gonna drop by," Fel says, losing the impish look.
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