Participants:
| Scene Title | Queen's Knight |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The royal court (so to speak) is taking shape. |
| Date | Jan 25, 2009 |
Elisabeth is parked in the room that Cardinal was using as an office with papers spread out on the desk. Every light in the place is on, and she's sitting in the chair with her head held in one hand writing on a pad of paper with the other. She looks intent on what she's doing and she's clearly not alert to what's going on in the hallway, trusting in the security of this building to alert her if there's anything to worry about. There's a tall cup of to-go coffee from one of the designer chains sitting on the desk in front of her. If one didn't look around at the fact that this is the New York Public Library, it looks like any other day at the precinct where she could be found hunched over maps.
Mack enters without knocking or making any indication of his presence other than the newly augmented scent of coffee- his is a mocha, though the label is from a little corner joint rather than a chain. He winces against the light, deciding against his original plan of sitting across from her and instead just leaning against the door frame. Where he can occasionally glance out into the hallway to give his eyes a break- even with the sunglasses. "Jesus, Liz, need me to pick you up some flashlights next time I'm out?" The joke has no heart, though. There's concern in his voice that easily outweighs any bother the light might cause his own damaged eyes, though he doesn't press her on it. For now.
Her head jerks up, and Elisabeth stares at the door. For just a moment… Her blue eyes flicker upward and she smiles faintly. "Go ahead and shut some of them down," she tells him quietly. "I was just having trouble seeing some of the streets on the map." It's a lie; probably a transparent one. But she leans back in her chair and picks up the cup of coffee. "What're you working on?"
Mack lets his right eyebrow climb high onto his forehead. "You don't want any shadows in here, far be it from me to bring 'em in." Mack does need to turn and look out into the hallway at this point, though, blinking furiously to give his eyes a moments rest. "Need darker glasses," He mumbles to himself. He's not bitching- she isn't even supposed to hear it, though with her power she obviously could. "Just been out setting some things up. Set up some hustles for cash flow, that kinda shit. And trying to get invited to somebody's daddy's yacht club so I can network with the 'right' kind of people, but they're not a welcoming bunch. Tats aren't helping this time, believe it or not." The last is sarcastic, his form of venting while also telling her 'I've been out spending money and haven't accomplished jack shit'.
She moves to get up. "It's fine. I'm used to turning them down when someone comes in," Elisabeth says quietly. She takes her cup with her and starts turning off some of the floor lamps, dimming the room to less than half of the previous level. "I can't sit in the dark without the screaming mimis. Been working on it, but… " She shrugs slightly. "There are some residuals of being held.
"I don't know if she can swing it, but I've got two people who might be in the market for a bouncer. The owner of the Rock Cellar and the owner of Old Lucy's," Liz says quietly, sipping from her cup. "If you're hard up for money, it's at least a job. And I'd vouch for you. If you're looking for something specific that you think will net intel…. well, that's something different, yeah?" She shoves a hand through her hair. "There's… " She bites her lip. "Tell you what… I'll give you a few addresses to hit for me. They're Cardinal's safehouses. I've stopped by a couple — found a few addresses in the files — and I noticed he'd been stashing some things that'd pawn real well, too. If you need the cash."
"I'm not hawking Card's shit for spending money, Liz. Your shit, I guess, now." When the lights go down, so does Mack's guard. At least a little. He comes into the room and finds a place to just sort of… flop. In fact, he even takes off his sunglasses, and those milky once-brilliant emerald eyes look idly around the room before he rubs them both at the same time. "I'm getting by. Last thing you need to be doing is worrying about me. You look like the back side of getting hit by a brick, woman. You need to sleep."
"Yeah… I will. Wanted to set some things in motion before I ship out on Wednesday," Elisabeth replies. And then she smiles faintly. "And what the fuck else am I gonna do but worry about you schmucks?" She shoves a hand through her blonde hair. "Danko…. is alive. The Humanis First guy who blew my brains out, tortured Ivanov and Pastor Joseph and Peyton and God only knows who else? He was sprung with the same offer we got presumably — amnesty in return for going out there to probably get dead. He escaped the blast in Antarctica somehow… probably with government help… and he's back in New York. So far as I know, he's the only survivor of the shadow nuke. Peyton is watching through his eyes to keep tabs on him, but he showed up yesterday at the wake…. when he left, he was writing down names." She pauses and turns to look at him. "Frankly… I'm of the opinion that if you spot him and you have a clean shot and are willing to take it, Gabe…. " She trails off, those blue eyes colder than the Antarctic.
"I don't get queezy, Liz. If I see him, I'll blow his brains all over the fucking wall." Mack blinks a few times before sliding his glasses back into place. "But don't waste your time worrying about me. Peyton? Yeah, worry about her. She's a rich kid with a heart thats in way too deep and she's an errant step on a sidewalk crack away from shattering like broken glass." He pulls out a cigarette and rolls it around his fingers, but he doesn't light it. "Anyway. I got no soul left to lose; if I get the chance I'll end him."
Elisabeth's lips quirk into a faint half-smile. "Don't get close, and don't assume he's alone. He almost never is." She perches her hips back against the desk. "I'm going to stop in on the rest of Card's places, pick up whatever valuables he had stashed and bring 'em back here. I can't funnel my personal funds through the group easily, but if we need the cash, we can liquidate. I'm pretty sure it's what he meant the stuff for." She considers. "I need you to take Claire in hand while I'm gone — mentor her a little when she needs someone to bounce ideas and thoughts off of. She's missing about the last five months of her life, so most of the people here will be strangers to her. But she's got her head on straight and she's got a lot of good plans on how to keep us moving forward. So I'm going to let her run with it under your eye." She eyes him.
"She's changed a lot. Seen a lot. And quite frankly? There's going to come a point where she loses it, Mack. And I need you to watch out for her when she cracks. She's going to break hard. She…." Liz swallows. "She watched them incinerate babies for having the gene. Saw pregnancy farms out in Madagascar. It was… bad. You going to be able to handle it when she blows?"
Scene Paused, to be completed Wed