Participants:
| Scene Title | Pepperoni, Extra Stress |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes comes by with pizza and an apology for Tamsine's arrest but inadvertently causes more stress when he drops the name of a certain Brit. |
| Date | August 30, 2009 |
Tamsine's Apartment, Greenwich Village
Arriving in his faded Batman t-shirt, comfortably fitting blue jeans, and black sneakers, Magnes knocks on Tamsine's door early in the afternoon with a box of pizza in his hand. There doesn't appear to be anyone else, and considering the lack of a uniform, he's probably not there for arresting.
Picking up Pandora, who lives up to her name and tries to escape any open door out of sheer curiosity, Tamsine heads to the door and peeks through the peephole. She frowns when she sees who it is. Rooftop Skater, Pizza Boy, now Arresting Officer. She opens the door, and leans her cheek against the edge of it to look at him with somber dark eyes. She arches a brow, as if to say "Now what?"
Instead, she gives a small nod. "Officer Varlane."
"Just call me Magnes. I wanted to apologize, I really didn't think you needed cuffs…" Magnes holds the pizza up, smiling apologetically. "I made you a pizza, I still live over the shop. If you need me to explain anything to the neighbors, I mean, I'd be more than willing…"
"Explain what? That you took me away in cuffs because I didn't register myself as an Evolved when I should have, so they can wonder what sort of freak is living in their neighborhood, Officer Varlane?" she asks, not reaching for the pizza nor using his first name. "I appreciate that you tried to help, but I'm not a big fan of how that whole thing went down. There may be such a thing as police protocol but there's always room for flexibility, especially since it was clear that my ability was not one that was dangerous. It's not like I'm some naive kid who doesn't know better. I used to be a social worker. I've had to investigate calls of abuse, and I've had to have the police arrest parents, but we've tried to do it discreetly when we could, when there was cooperation. I know that happens, even if the 'rulebook' says to take them away in handcuffs every time."
"I can tell them something else, anything that makes it easier for you. I'm really sorry." Magnes sighs, momentarily looking down at the box of pizza, then locks eyes with her again. "I know there's more than the rulebook, but I'm still new, I've barely been at this for a week. I just trusted that she knew what she was doing, I mean, I didn't think she'd be mean on purpose, why would she?" he asks, obviously trying to see the best in his partner.
"Because, Magnes, some people just are," Tamsine says with a sigh, relenting a little and widening the door so he can come in. "Come on in," she says, leading the way into the kitchen if he follows. "But all right. I guess if you're new, you can't do much about it. You have to follow your commanding officer, right?" She lets the cat down, where the fluffy white creature winds around Magnes' legs.
Magnes closes the door behind him, smiling down at the cat before following her to the kitchen. "I'm really sorry, I felt terrible about it, that's why I came back. I mean, doing that couldn't have been a good thing, even justifying it with rules…"
Tamsine goes to get two plates. Apparently he's eating with her. She can't possibly eat a whole pizza on her own. "Well, I'm not a religious person, but maybe it's happening for some reason or another. My parents, they were … well, you'd call them hippies, and they believed things happen for some cosmic reason." She sighs and shakes her head. "I haven't told them yet. But at least it's not on my record anymore."
"I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. After all you've been through, things should be going right in your life." Magnes sits the pizza on a table, then opens the box, revealing a simple pepperoni people with parmesan cheese. "My life has been hell this year, but now I've got a girlfriend, and I guess if you ignore getting shot three times and flashing the President on national television, I'm doing pretty well."
The redhead picks up a piece of the pizza and puts it on her plate, laughing a little and shaking her head. "I have a feeling trouble doesn't follow you but that you follow it, Magnes," she says with a smirk. "But I'm glad you're doing better now."
"I am, my therapist is a huge help, best thing that ever happened to me next to the actual girlfriend." Magnes grabs two slices for his plate, picking off a piece of pepperoni. "I do what I have to do, but I'm not sure how cut out I'll be for police work if things keep going like this."
"Is it what you wanted to be? A police officer?" She vaguely remembers Magnes and Victor talking to her, the first night she met the gravitokinetic, and remembers it was Victor who was the young police officer, not Magnes. "It doesn't really seem like something you'd want to do. Helping people, yes, but you don't really seem the authority or enforcement type."
"I don't know, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I wanted to see what I could learn from it. I might not be an officer forever, I'll just see how it goes. I have other options, I mean a girl did ask me to join a band, I'm getting my investigation and physics degrees…" Magnes shrugs, taking a bite of the pizza before taking a seat at the table. "I don't know what I wanna do, I just wanna change the world enough so my children can follow their dreams."
Ouch. Salt in the wounds. Tamsine simply nods, and then gets up to get two cans of Dr. Pepper from the refrigerator; the door still has the picture of Lily on it, along with the last report card the girl would ever earn. She brings the drinks back to the table. "Well, follow your dreams, too. Don't forego them for your children's when they don't exist yet. Saving the world's a nice goal but don't lose sight of your own happiness to do it."
"It's burning around us, China's drafting all their Evolved, and god knows what we're doing with artificial Evolved serums and stuff." Magnes takes a can, smiling and nodding in thanks, popping the can. "If people like Sylar and Adam Monroe don't kill us all, the governments are sure trying. But I'm doing my best, and some wars aren't won in a lifetime."
She flops back into a chair staring at Magnes. "Adam Monroe? What about him? Why would he kill us?" she asks, her face white, her dark eyes wide.
"I, well, sorry, I should shut up, sometimes I get confused about what the general public knows." Magnes sips his soda, looking apologetic again. "Just ignore me, I really do need to learn how to be subtle."
"No, Magnes. Please. This is important to me. Why did you say that? I don't know a Sylar, but I know an Adam Monroe. I really would like to know why you feel he's unsafe to the general population." She reaches over and grabs his hand. "Please. If you want to repay me, it will mean more than pizza. It's important."
"He's dangerous, he's out there planning something I'm still not quite sure on, he's killed people I know and people my friends know. I'm not even supposed to go near him." Magnes explains, staring over at Tamsine with concerned eyes. "Is your Adam Monroe British with a large forehead?"
"He's killed people? Like, normal, every day people?" Tamsine says, looking rather aghast at the thought. Of course she knows of his plans to kill the Company founders, and at some level she's all right with that, but normal people are a different story. "Yes, he's British. Please, tell me what he's done. Who has he killed, Magnes?"
"A friend's lover, I can't remember who the friend is, and the reason I can't remember is a long story, but he killed her lover. He tortured a girl I was dating, kept healing her over and over, then breaking her bones all over again. He killed my other friend's father." Magnes doesn't give names, suggesting that he's possibly either very secretive, or perhaps really can't remember some things for whatever reason. "I know I'm supposed to stay away from him, but if I ever see him again, he's not getting away…"
"Who did he torture?" she asks, frowning. Some of that might be … well, in the line of duty. But to torture a girl that would be young enough to date Magnes, she can't think of any reason to do such a thing. "Why?" she asks again. "I … he's a friend of mine, Magnes. Am I in danger?"
"I know this won't make sense to you, but I can't remember her, I just know I dated her. I'm missing a lot of memories of the past two months, the only reason I'm even telling you that is because I don't want you to be in danger. I don't know if you're in any particular danger, but if Adam's got someone who can create portals…" Magnes shakes his head, pulling his iPhone from his pocket. "Can I have your number? I can pass it along to someone who could help you a bit better than me."
The red head's big eyes get bigger. "I haven't ever helped him with anything like that. I haven't aided or abetted in anything, I promise. He doesn't tell me anything like that, I swear. Is he … wanted?" she asks. She didn't realize how deep he was into all of this. "I … who would you tell about me, Magnes? I don't want to get in trouble with someone for this."
"I don't think he's wanted, I'm not sure if the cops even know about Adam. I won't give your number to any police, but I can't say who exactly. I promise, it'll be someone trustworthy who knows all about what's going on, a lot more than I do. A phone call can't hurt, right?" Magnes already has his phone ready to input the number, he just watches her expectantly. "I don't wanna try and solve this myself, or give you false information, I'd rather someone who knows what they're doing handle it."
Shit. Tamsine doesn't know what to do. She shakes her head. "I … I don't want to be connected with him, in anyone's mind, and if you can't tell me who you're telling, I'd rather not." Her pizza is forgotten. She has no appetite. Every thing's been turned upside down in her life once more. "I shouldn't have told you I know him. Just forget I said anything."
"Alright, how about I just talk to a few people and not mention your name or anything?" Magnes asks, trying to offer a more favorable option as he slides the phone back into his pocket. "The only reason I can't tell you is because you're connected with him, I don't really know how safe it was to tell you as much as I did…"
Tamsine nods, and tries to hold herself together and not dissolve in tears. She nods. "I … if you don't mention my name and can find out something to tell me, if you think I need to cut off contact with him, but please don't turn me into someone to give them information. I don't know anything and I haven't helped him in any way. He… the most I can say is he's helped me a little. Looked after me a little."
"The best advice I can give is to act like nothing's changed, and call me if he asks you to do anything suspicious." Magnes reaches into his pocket, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, then writes his number down and slides it over to her. "I'm sorry for letting his name slip."
The petite redhead nods. "Thanks. I'll be careful." She looks miserable. She knew Adam was going to kill the founders of the Company; he said it was a war and that it was the only way to change the world for children like Lilliana, but she can't see how killing or torturing young women would fit in this plan. "Is there anything else about him I should know?"
"All I can say right now is to be careful." Magnes warns, standing with his half-eaten pizza and turning to head for the door. "Your life has enough problems, so I'm really sorry for putting this on you. I'll figure something out."
Tamsine frowns and stands, moving to the door to let Magnes out. "At least I don't know whoever this Sylar is. I don't think I could handle another thing on my plate," she says. Way to look on the bright side, right? Pandora the white furballl makes a dash toward the door, knowing it's about to be opened, and Tamsine leans down to pick up the half-grown cat, holding it against her shoulder. The red of her hair is a stark contrast to the white fur. She opens the door. "Be careful, Magnes." She worries about him, in his new career field. Luckily she doesn't know about the last one.
"I'll be fine, I hope. You just worry about yourself, and don't stress, you have my number." Magnes looks back one last time, nodding and smiling, then he's off down the hall.