Participants:
| Scene Title | Playing At Being Soldiers |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The last member of Squad 2 arrives. |
| Date | Feb 8, 2010 |
US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
The squad training on the Academy grounds for FRONTLINE is not exactly hard to find. The guard at the gate can usually tell anyone who asks where to locate them because… well… people like to look. At the moment, however, there is only one of the members where the guard told the new guy to look once he was checked in — the main football field is where they've been praacticing with those wicked-cool suits they get to use. The blond down there is actually running in the suit, though it's short distances, getting used to the feel of it. By the time she realizes she's got company and stops, she's huffing and puffing a bit. It's not as heavy as a rucksack, but it's not LIGHT either. "Hey…."
The man loping with a casual walk onto the field is tall, but not overly so and lean. Wearing a pair of jeans and a solid white t-shirt, he has a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. His boots make deep impressions in the snow covered ground. He's got a pair of cheap sunglasses on that he takes off when he's spoken too. "Hey." He extends a hand for a shake. "Doctor Jeremy Prince. I'm here to join Squad 2."
Giving the man a once-over, Elisabeth smiles. "Welcome aboard," she tells him, holding out her hand in its gauntlet to shake his. "Elisabeth Harrison. You can call me Liz if you like. The commander's not here," she gestures around, catching her breath. "I'm still sort of catching up. Damn Marines are like the Energizer bunny — they never quit," she laughs.
It's a bit awkward looking, shaking hands with a gauntlet covered hand, but luckily the armor they're testing out with FRONTLINE is pretty streamlined. Still, Prince manages well, and releases the shake to adjust the strap of the duffel bag to a more comfortable position. "Not all of them. I did a tour in Iraq, stationed in Baghdad. There were some lazy marines. But for the most part, yeah. I'd have to agree. I've been out of the game myself.. sure hope I don't make a massive fool of myself." He looks around the place, taking it in. "So, what do you do?"
There's a bit of a twinkle as she grins. "For the squad, in real life, or for fun?" Elisabeth gestures. "C'mon, I'll walk you to where they're quartering us. I'm Squad 2's logistics officer. Which, so far as I can tell, is a fancy dancy way of saying I gotta keep track of our stuff and sort of be the go-to person for local knowledge and tactics once we get back to New York? Although I'm not entirely sure. No one's really told me what a logistics officer does. Before this, I was a cop." She smiles as she walks with him. "I'm the only one on the squad who was never US military-trained. More like… self-trained."
Jeremy nods, and Elisabeth's twinkle is rewarded with a goofy-looking grin. "Well, I was speaking about the squad, but I'll take answers for the others when you're ready." He starts to walk along with you, checking out the armor along the way. "So, this is what we get to wear? Agent Kershner said I'd be getting a chance to play with some fancy stuff, but that looks serious cutting edge." His duffel bag is adjusted again, trying not to keep it on one spot for too long to prevent bruising. "I'm not really military myself. I'm a doctor. I joined the reserves to pay for my med school, and I happened to graduate when the Iraq war was still a baby engagement. They planted me in Baghdad to work my magic. After that.. well, let's just say I'm not on the best of terms with the United States government."
"Mmm-hmm. She calls it bleeding edge. It's hydraulic, which makes it lighter than it looks WHEN it's powered up, but boy, when it's powered off, it's a bitch and a half," Elisabeth replies easily. She tips her head. "Do I want to know what your issues are, Dr. Prince?" She waves a hand. "And believe me, you can say pretty much anything you want to me, and I'll keep it behind my teeth when it comes to the muckity-mucks. I'm not much for the whole rah-rah government shit myself. I'm here because I'm hoping to keep helping people in a more legal fashion than I was doing before they hauled me up."
Jeremy smiles at your last statement, his vibrantly blue eyes twinkling. "That's good to hear, Miss Harrison. I'm all about helping people myself.. though I'm not really particular on the legality." He pauses a second, chuckling. "Don't worry. I'm not a criminal or anything." He grows quiet for a minute, the only sound the crunching of feet through snowy, muddy ground. "I don't think you do want to know my issues."
There's a bit of a pause, and Elisabeth says mildly, "Well, technically I am." She glances at him and offers, "Although personally I don't see how Phoenix fit the description of a terrorist unit." She shrugs. "So…. if I wasn't willing to offer my ear, Prince, I wouldn't have made the offer. But it'll stay on the table if you ever need it." She doesn't seem inclined to push him, merely offer camaraderie and a friendly ear. "So tell me what kind of doctor you are. Cuz you know, if you're going to have your hands on my bod at some point, I wanna know that you know what you're doing and all," she teases.
Jeremy half smirks, half frowns at what you say. And while he doesn't seem particularly willing to talk about those issues, he doesn't seem closed off either. "Diagnostic medicine. Fancy way of saying I don't really have a specialty. I'm just you know, a doctor. I'm a healer. Surgeon. Fixing broken bones. Agent Kershner probably recruited me for my expertise in battlefield first aid, though." He takes a deep breath, looking at the sky as he walks along beside you. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. And I'll try to keep my hands off unless it's necessary."
The cold isn't seeming to bother her as much as it might — but the conversation definitely has Elisabeth's attention. Bright blue eyes study him occasionally and she nods. "Fair enough." She grins a bit. "And just so you know, if I ever say something that bothers you, tell me to knock it the hell off, all right? I won't take offense." She refers to the light flirting she's been doing, but his tone has given her pause. "So mind if I ask what your other specialty is? Ability wise?"
"You don't need to worry. I'm pretty difficult to offend. And if you step out of line, I'll let you know." He cracks his neck by swinging it side to side, letting out a tired sigh of relief. "I hope the beds are good. I'm pretty exhausted." He doesn't answer your question right away, instead sort of sizing you up and down as he slows his pace a bit to get behind you, but he catches back up. "I'm a mimic. I can copy the skills and capabilities of other people around me, and hang on to them. I can only hold so many at a time, though. The other benefit is I can see what people can do.. like you definitely were a cop, that's for sure. And a good one, if your skills matched your rep. And you sing, too. And you were a teacher, that's in there as well." A pause. "You don't even want to know what Agent Kershner is capable of."
She looks over her shoulder in a puzzled fashion when he gets behind her, but Elisabeth's expression goes perhaps a little wary when he comes back up. "Honestly, you're probably right," she comments drily about Kershner. "The woman's scary enough without knowing for sure that she can kill me eighty differnt ways." She flushes a bit at the compliment. "I like to think I was a good cop. How the heck did you know about the teacher part though? How's that work?" And then she pauses. "What rep?"
"Oh, sorry. Maybe I didn't phrase that right. I don't know you from Eve, I just meant with the skills you racked up doing the job, you should have a good reputation. That's all." He smiles. "And sorry, I didn't mean to read you like that. For the record, I'm also a hell of a mechanic and I have a degree in biology from NYU." He narrows his brow thinking about Kershner. "I can't say I like the woman, but I'm not afraid of her either. I guess its hard to be when I can do anything she can. And not everybody can teach. It's a talent, skill, knowledge. So I see it in you."
The blonde looks thoughtful as they crunch up the hill toward the quarters assigned to the squad. And she grins. "Well… thanks," she tells him. And then grins. "Teaching was… a good job. A good fallback, really. I did it when I took some time away from the PD when I didn't want to Register." She shrugs a bit. "I liked it. Maybe someday I'll go back to it. After the work is done…. and the world is saved a couple more times or something." She manages, just, to hide the bitterness in her tone.
Jeremy points off in the distance, towards the building they're approaching up the hill. "I'm guessing that's the quarters, then? Standard military accomodations? Which means the bed is going to give me a sore back, that's fantastic." He smiles when he says that, almost laughing. "I wouldn't hold your breath about saving the world, Miss Harrison. There's a hell of a lot of work to be done. And just when you think you're just about there.." He fiddles with the ring on the chain around his neck, squeezing it in his hand. "Boom. Everything you've worked for is gone. I don't mean to sound cynical, I'm trying to believe in saving the world and a better place and all that John Lennon Imagine shit myself. It's just.. a lot harder these days."
A faint smile quirks the corners of her lips. "Not if you've seen what I've seen," Elisabeth murmurs softly, wearily. She notes the wedding ring, but she also notes the way he plays with it and opts to not ask. They're not friends yet. "So yeah… standard quarters. Although it's nicer than the plebes — we're in the visiting officers' quarters. Mess hall's down there," she gestures across the quad they're trudging through. "And most likely your own uniform'll be in your room. It's got a plug-in and everything. I'm assuming they're putting you in with Smith, he's the only other guy on the squad. He'll be able to show you how the gear works. It's…. sort of fun? Sometimes." She grins slightly. "Anything else you want to know?"
Not totally lost in social context and body language, Jeremy notes Elisabeth eyeing what he's doing with the wedding ring and lets go of it. He's no closer to talking about it than you are to asking, either, so he continues the conversation on its current course. "Well. I brought a fluffy pillow. I hope they aren't as intense with regulation with us since we're not exactly marines. How many are in the squad, anyway? I hope this Smith guy is good people, I'd hate to be at odds with the only other guy." He nods about the suiting up. "Yeah, it'll be good to get back in the saddle.. be the hero."
"Not as intense, no. And if you need to go back to wherever you were living before, we've got a plane at our disposal. It's easiest to go on the weekends, but I've actually had to make a run home midweek, they're not really sitting hard on us. The Marines are being pretty tough on the physical training — though maybe that's just my perspective, being non-military," Elisabeth laughs. "Maybe I'm just a wuss. Diego's good people, yeah. The rest of the squad is… let's see, Crawford, Varlane, me, and Miles. Varlane's the commander — she seems to be one of the 'stick to last names' types, sorta like any CO but friendly enough. Miles is… well, I'm kind of reserving judgment on her. Apparently she's really new to her ability, and she views it as her 'abnormality'." Liz shrugs. "Whether that turns out to be a problem or not, so far things seem okay. And Crawford seems a decent sort as well from what I've seen." She pauses and then shrugs. "From my own perspective, I think we'll all manage to run along nicely enough." As long as everyone remembers Kershner's a shark in woman's skin.
Jeremy listens to you discuss the rest of the squad, nodding at each description in turn. "Sounds all right and cheery, I suppose. I'll have to meet them properly of course, which I'm sure will happen sooner than later." He shifts the weight of his duffel again, stretching his back in the process. "I feel like I've got bricks in this thing. I'm going to take a load off and settle in when I get to my bunk, read over some of the.. material Kershner gave me. And careful, she might have heard that somehow." He smirks, tugging his lips into a playful grin. "She told me about the plane, too. Not like I have anything waiting for me in New York to rush off too, but hell, maybe I'll go see a play." A brief pause. "And I don't think you're a wuss."
Elisabeth laughs in response. "I'm not a wuss, but I will say these soldiers sure as hell make me feel like I've just been playing at it," she says. "Of course…. I guess in a lot of ways, I have been just playing at it." There's a darkness that slips across her expression, as if a bad memory caught her. "I have more respect than ever for anyone who gives the US military a blank check," she says quietly. "In any case, yeah," she says as they get to the door. "By all means. I know Smith's room is down to the left when you go in, so I expect you'll be in there. I'm sure I'll see you soon. Maybe dinner or something."
Slinging the duffel off his shoulder and down his arm to grip it in his hand, Doctor Prince nods as he turns to face Elisabeth as they reach the door. He extends a hand to shake yours again. "Careful, Miss Harrison. That sounds awfully close to fraternization." That sly, goofy smirk is offered once more. "Thanks again for all your wisdom." After the handshake, he releases the grip to open the door and head inside.
With a snicker, Elisabeth turns to head back to whatever she was up to next and murmurs — allowing her voice to follow him down the hall — "Hey, now… we're all civilians, so frat regs don't apply." Her laughter trails off softly as she drops the effect and leaves him to settle.