Participants:
| Scene Title | Pissing Contest |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Veronica recovers information relevant to her in the "Chinatown incident" from Felix and Elisabeth, with a little help from her friend Kat. |
| Date | March 13, 2009 |
Fel's still in relatively light duty, what with that healing head-wound. At the moment, he's typing patiently away at paperwork on his computer, in the little cube that is the Feds' beachhead in the NYPD HQ. Ah, the joys of the joint task-force. The fact that his head was pretty much shaved to the scalp doesn't do much for him - the jarhead look is far from flattering, with features that harsh. His suitjacket is draped over the back of his chair, exposing the shoulder rig he wears over the blue Oxford shirt he has on.
After whatever police officer desk jockey nods Veronica toward the cubicle, the woman strides across the room and then taps on the top of the cubicle on the metal framework, as opposed to the softer side walls. "Afternoon. I'm told you're the agent working on the Case situation?" Veronica says, in a friendly-enough manner, as she flashes her HomeSec badge in an offhand sort of way. "I wondered if I could have a few moments of your time… along with Elisabeth Harrison, if she's about?" It's a polite request, offered with a friendly smile that reveals dimples and white teeth.
Felix glances over his shoulder, presenting her with the spectacle of a whole arc of little stitched wounds on the side of his head. No wonder his head's shaved. His expression is mild interest at first, but it immediately flattens out into a pokerface that is orders of magnitude less welcoming. At least he isn't lunging to the end of his chain, foaming and snarling. "Harrison's not in, but yes, I am working on the Case case," Fel says, flatly, coming up out of his chair stiffly, turning to face her fully, hands on the back. "HomeSec, huh?" Cut the hostility with a knife.
There's a tilt of her dark head, her dark eyes glinting with some amusement as his manner changes from neutral to dislike. "You can relax. I'm not coming to try to tell you what to do or what not to do with the Case … situation." Apparently, she's tired of sounding repetitive. "And I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not, because God knows you probably have someone around here who can scan my retinas or smell a lie with their extra special abilities, so let's cut to the chase. I'm Veronica Sawyer. And I have paperwork here," she says with a flourish of a manila folder, "authorizing me to confiscate any information you and the NYPD have on the event that occurred on Chinatown, closing that aspect of the investigation."
"You look awfully good for someone who is for the most part reposing in the morgue," Fel observes, voice gone very soft. "And well, that's the lead we have. Are we supposed to pretend that incident didn't happen?" he wonders, eyeing her from under level brows. "Listen. Just what the fuck does Homeland Security think it's doing? You mindwipe a witness wanted for any number of criminal charges, more or less blowing any legitimate case on Flint Deckard right the fuck out of the water. And then attempt to whip him off to mutant Gitmo without any attempt at observing any of his constitutional rights. Deckard is not some kind of Evolved Osama Bin Laden, so where precisely do you get off? I'm not handing you a goddamn post-it note until I hear it from my SAC, so you can go right up the chain and head down to One Federal Plaza, and stop wasting my time."
Veronica arches one of her brows as he begins to rant. She holds up a hand. "A. If he were 'wiped' by us, you can damn well be sure that we didn't wipe out the memory of his entire life and every crime he was wanted for — that rap sheet was a foot long, and at most he'd have forgotten just a few hours, if it were at our hands," she rebuts. "B. I have no idea what happened to Deckard. Believe me when I say we have absolutely no interest in protecting him nor persecuting him." She pauses, and shakes her head. "C. If the files are in this establishment and not at the federal building, you'll be giving me every post-it note that so much has my initials on it, or so says this." She lifts the folder again. "It has more authority than you do, buddy. Sorry. It looks like you're having a bad week and I'm sure I don't mean to make it worse."
"A pair with Homesec badges came in, paid him a little visit, and suddenly he has no idea whatsoever why he's in jail," Felix points out, quietly. "And HomeSec were the ones that picked him up for detention without a trial. Listen. What happened in Chinatown that needs covering up? We've got three bodies' worth of physical evidence with your DNA in all of it down in the morgue, Agent Sawyer. You gonna get a bucket and take that too?" His jaw sets. "I'm playing stubborn. You can take this to FBI HQ and get some more signatures, but I am not playing ball on this until I hear from -my- superiors."
"The guy lost his eyeball a few days before. Maybe head trauma made his memory a little sketchy. Maybe one of the police officers here thumped him a bit too heavily on the skull. There were warrants out for his arrest. Doesn't really matter if he remembers how he got there, does it? I'm sure that can be handled with careful wording and the impeccable credentials the arresting officers no doubt have," she says sweetly. "Yes, we'll take that as well. I have a van with some lab techs prepared to take away that evidence, as well." She opens the file and holds it in front of him — not surprisingly keeping it in her hands. She allows him to see the signatures there. "It's a waste of time to go get your superiors' signatures on this."
"Oh, I'd say his memory was just fine, Agent Sawyer. He sure described you perfectly," Elisabeth says as she enters the area to hear the tail end of that. "And so did the officers who let you into the cell the night that you relieved him of all his memories of what went down in the alley. My big question is, if you and your partner just happened upon the situation — a white guy being dragged out of a van in Chinatown, bound up with zip ties and all — and opted to help, why the hell is it such a big deal that you were there? And why is it so damn hard for spooks to actually just say 'hey, we saw it, and I actually survived.' Cuz frankly? Your DNA is of no real value to our investigation except insofar as it identifies you as the one person who has been attacked by Case to survive unscathed….. or apparently so." Liz doesn't have the demeanor of hostility that felix has, though. In fact, she moves to her desk and reaches into it to pull out a large manila envelope, holding it up. "So… how about a trade? I have all the information you want already boxed up and ready to go. In return, all I want to know is what exactly this kid can do. Cuz so far, all reports conflict. And since I've been assured that you're not interested in the Tyler Case investigation itself, that you only want your own involvement in it erased… I'm willing to play ball if you are." She smiles sweetly. "Of course….. if you'd rather not, I can certainly just write up my report with your name in it as a material witness and get a court order for you to be deposed by the DA on the matter."
Fel doesn't say anything. Liz, as usual, has done more with more tact. He merely smiles to himself, and then looks patiently to Veronica for her response, after scooping up his mug of coffee.
Well, if things hadn't already gotten complicated enough around here. Here comes Katherine Marks. Homeland Security Poster Child. It appears Veronica has arrived before her, which in itself isn't necessarily a problem, but voices raised and all. Kat is dressed in her typical suit, as she walks up and stands next to Agent Sawyer. Katherine was there long enough to hear about half of Elisabeth's dialogue. Short and to the point, and with a knack of pointing out the obvious — Marks chimes in. "Seems to be a little conflict here, I take it?" Oh yeah. This coming from the Queen of Conflict.
"You must be Harrison?" Sawyer says with a toss of her dark hair as she looks over the new arrival. She raises her brows when Katherine comes walking up and gives a shrug. "No conflict, not really." She turns back to Elisabeth.
"See… that all sounds swell, except that I'm not authorized to tell you what I know. As far as the event in the alley? Purely coincidental," Veronica says. Well, sort of — they certainly didn't expect Case at that precise moment, or they'd have been better prepared. "We happened to be there for an unrelated matter of national security that I simply can't disclose. As this paperwork says," Vee adds, handing it over to Elisabeth. Clearly she trusts the other woman not to tear it up.
"As far as the DNA… again. It had nothing to do with Case. Deckard might think he knows what he saw, but from what I've heard, he's mistaken. I can't say how and why. I can say that you need to simply hand over the information. I have a team in a van outside prepared to take the biological materials, as I said."
Elisabeth shrugs easily, her tone remaining absolutely calm and polite. "I don't care about your unrelated matter, nor do I care about your DNA. I'm reasonably sure here that you don't require authorization to tell me the answer to that one question: Could you tell what exactly the kid can do? But if you do, please feel free to call and at least *ask* whether you can tell me. If your bosses piss all over you for making us still more suspicious about what you were doing there in addition to fucking up and leaving your DNA behind, it's not really my problem at all." She smiles easily and nicely, "Evening, Kat. Nice to see you." The other agent gets the meaningful 'you better do something about this or I won't play nice anymore' look.
Kat normally wouldn't respond to that particular look, but this little incident is important. In reality, this isn't a negotiation, there are some compromises to be made. She tugs Sawyer by the elbow and draws her aside and whispers to her in hushed tones not nearly loud enough the other two can hear. There's some dramatic glances from Kat back to the other two as she pauses a few times as the two discuss something back and forth. Finally Kat nods and so ends the conference. The two walk back over and Kat is eerily quiet as she lets Veronica speak.
Sawyer shrugs as she turns back to Elisabeth. "I know for a fact," that sounds promising, doesn't it, "my boss isn't available for a phone call this very moment." Ah, not so much. "However, Case's abilities aren't totally known to us. That's the truth. I was knocked out when I took him down. Not by some power… he was flailing around and I took a shoulder to the face that flattened me. Whatever else happened — with the Chinese mob trying to shoot us, we weren't going to stick around for clean up, right? There's no evidence Case did anything, and he's not of interest to us.
Elisabeth mmmmms quietly. "Well, that pretty much sucks," she sighs. Oh well, it was worth a try. Interestingly enough, Veronica didn't tell the two cops precisely what was actually said — and the differences are somewhat telling. Because, as Elisabeth will tell Felix later, what was *actually* said was, "Look. Tell her the deal. You don't know for a fact what he does. You were knocked out and anything you give her would be purly speculation. Fact is, there isn't any evidence that it WAS Case who did anything. That's exactly what we're trying to find out now. As far as we're concerned Homeland has no interest in Case."
Fel just shakes his head, sagely. A disappointment indeed. HE slants an unreadable look at Liz, and then glances down to his coffee, like he might be able to divine from the grounds.
Liz tosses the manila envelope at Sawyer, leaving it to the agent to catch it or have to pick it up from the floor as it skids off the edge of the desk. "Have a nice night, Agent Sawyer. Thanks for the information."
Katherine offers a shrug to Elisabeth. They'll talk later, for sure. She nudges Agent Sawyer. "Let's go. The others can grab the rest." As the two walk out of the building Liz could probably overhear Kat offers to Veronica. "How about a drink?"
 March 12th: Road To Recuperation |
 March 12th: Be Quiet |