Role Reversal

Participants:

katherine2_icon.gif veronica_icon.gif

Scene Title Role Reversal
Synopsis The definition of which of the two are lost become blurred.
Date September 30, 2009

Homeland Security Holding Facility


It's been a couple of days since she had her last visitor and Katherine Marks is climbing the walls with boredom. Some of her new habits are itching to get soothed, but being locked up inside the holding facility is pushing her towards the edge. She refrains from making any moves to walk out of the building, which she could if she really wanted to, simply by tunneling herself out of the facility.

Kat lies on her bed, with one leg folded over the other and she has some plastic in her hand, which she keeps reshaping into different forms over and over again. Heaven only knows what this object used to be. It's current form is some sort of flying dinosaur, then she just mashes it together, making it a ball again. She huffs out a bit of air. Her hair is far too long for her liking, though it's funny how she never noticed when she was at Staten, but only now starting to realize it.

The door suddenly opens, and Veronica Sawyer steps through. She cares a gym bag of some of Kat's belongings — apparently someone told her it would be acceptable, and maybe even a good idea. There's a photo album of Kat's childhood, a high school year book, a favorite sweatshirt, a stuffed animal. There's also a couple of changes of clothes; these are new, but in Kat's typical style. Veronica figures she's tired of hand-me-downs.

"Hi there," Veronica says in a cheerful voice, a voice you use with sick people in a hospital or relatives you don't know very well. For some reason, Kat feels like a mixture of these. Vee hates the sound of her own voice, that fake cheery voice, and frowns a little. "How are you holding up, Kat?" She sets the gym bag down on the bed.

As the door opens, Kat turns to look at who enters and sits up when it's Veronica. "Hey, Vee." She sits up, setting the partially molded plastic aside. She makes a face to Vee at the greeting. "I'm not dying." Okay, that's probably not all that funny, but maybe it'll break the ice a little. Curiously eyes drift towards the gym bag and she reaches for it and begins to sift through it, pulling things out and setting them in neat stacks on the bed. It seems that neatness is one of her new personality tweaks.

"Any word on when they're going to let me go?" Keeping in mind, she has no idea what she'll do when they do finally let her out, she still doesn't like being kept inside a room. It's like she's an animal or a pet or something. "Thanks for the stuff." she says when she finally has everything laid out.

The greeting of "Vee" makes it seem more like Kat, and Veronica chuckles a little. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll take off the kid gloves and sweep the eggshells off the floor," she says, sitting on a chair and glancing at the bit of plastic. "I don't know yet. I haven't been to the new facility to ask Denton about things. I was sort of AWOL this weekend, just thinking about stuff. Lots of things are hitting the fans so to speak." She nods to the warped plastic. "What was that?"

Kat shrugs as she picks up the blob of plastic. It's mostly black, though there are bits of red, yellow, white, green, blue mixed in. "It was a Rubik's Cube." she admits. "I got tired of doing it." She reaches up and brushes some hair from her face and exhales. "I think I need to get my hair cut too."

"It's really boring here." she notes for the record. I don't know how much longer I can stay in here. Can you ruffle a few feathers for me? Wait… I don't want you getting into trouble."

Kat's words are less like the strange and awkward June's, and more like Kat's. Veronica nods. "I'll bug Denton, see who else I can get on it. You remembering anything? You sound more … you." The younger agent frowns a little, unsure if those are the words she wants. "I'll make you an appointment with Raquelle — maybe they'll let you out for a day if you're in my care. I can check. He's great. He does my hair. If not… I can cut it for you, maybe, just a trim, nothing fancy."

Shaking her head, Kat wrinkles her nose a little. "No. Minea came by and took me to the market. Wanted me to remember something about purple spiders, but I didn't recall anything from there. Other than that, it's just been me sitting here."

"It's weird because I sometimes don't know how I'm supposed to feel about things. I didn't even know my name until someone told me. When Minea called me Katherine, I thought she was talking to the other agent.. Colby, I think her name was. Sometimes I just don't know what's real. I mean, I read about myself, but it doesn't really sound like me. If that makes sense."

Veronica slowly nods, listening, and reaches out with her hand to take one of Kat's. "It does sound normal. And you know, I think some of it might be not just because of your … resuscitation or whatever, but because so much of what we do is … pretend. We pretend to be other people in the line of work we're in. Sometimes I don't recognize myself in the things I do, the things I say. I don't really even know who I am sometimes, because this job has shaped me in so many ways. What am I without it? I have no clue, and it's probably the only reason I haven't quit. I don't know if I'll like who I am if I quit pretending."

Too much honesty, Veronica, especially with someone with possible brain damage — but that's exactly why Veronica feels safe enough to tell Kat, other than the fact it is Kat, at least in part. "You sound more you, though. You don't sound so … automaton like you did the other day. I don't know why, but something's changed." She pushes Kat's hair out of her eyes. "Your hair really is too long. Listen, though. There's no right or wrong in how you feel. There's no 'supposed' to here. You feel what you feel, and that's okay, Kat. Okay?"

"Other than frustrated, I really don't know what I feel. Sometime I sometimes don't feel anything. It's like it shuts off." Kat squeezes Veronica's hand as it's being held. "It's like it comes and goes." She reaches up with her other hand and brushes it through her long hair. At least she's allowed showers and such each day so she's clean. "What have I missed with you, since I've been… away, I guess."

What has she missed… most of what she's missed, Veronica's not allowed to tell. Classified. So much of what Veronica does or what happens to Veronica is classified, even to other company agents. Killing Goodman. Finding out about her father. The fact her father's killer is now working at the New York facility. The fact that she's after Adam Monroe. Then there's Brian, her secret engagement. There's not a single person who knows all of the pieces that make up her life — it's like everyone has parts of the puzzle but no one would ever be able to make a complete picture of Veronica Sawyer unless they all managed to speak to one another.

But then, that's how it is with everyone. And Kat has more missing pieces than most. So Veronica just shrugs a little. "I don't even know where to start. And most of it won't make sense, if you don't really remember anything to begin with," she says softly, squeezing the hand back. "I'm trying to get the guy who killed you, though. I don't know how but we'll get him somehow."

If she had any sort of expression on her face, you might think she was joking when she responds. "Tell him he failed." Kat turns her blue eyes up and looks at Veronica. "I may not remember much, but if you ever want to talk about what's going on with you, you can. It not like I can judge you for anything when I don't even recall most of the things I've done. Part of me has a feeling I wasn't a very good person. You know, before." Before Pinehearst. Maybe that's why she died.

"I kind of wish I had things I could share, but I don't. So in a way, I guess I envy you. You have a life that you life and remember. I had a life that I have very little recollection of." Kat half-smiles towards Vee, "Don't take it for granted."

Veronica's eyes tear up — this might be something new for Kat — did she ever see Vee cry? It seems that Veronica does nothing but cry some days. "I'm sorry. I don't… I don't take it for granted, I just hate that there's so much that I have to keep secret, even from people who are still agents, even from people like Minea. Or Brian." She looks up at the ceiling and blinks back the tears. "Do you remember the name Goodman? Our boss. I…" she's about to tell Kat that she had to help assassinate their boss, but part of her stops. The telepaths will probably have to probe in the former agent's mind, and it's best not to share that. "Damn it." She shakes her head and presses her hands into her eyes. "I'm a mess right now, Kat. Everything in my life is … screwed up. You coming back to life is about the only good luck I've had."

She may not know why she does it, but Katherine reaches up and slips her hands around Veronica's wrists and pulls them away from her eyes gently and gazes at her face. "I wish I could put some sort of definition to what we had. My mind may not be able to remember.." she brings one of Vee's hands to her own heart and holds it there, ".. but something in here tells me that you were important to me. If I were June, I'd tell you that if you have a mess, you should clean it up. But I couldn't even begin to tell you how to do that. But I'll help as much as I can." Kat's own eyes are glistening as she speaks passionately to Veronica.

Somehow the tables have turned and it's Veronica who's lost and broken, instead of Kat. The strange irony isn't lost on the agent, nor is the fact that she's being weak. She straightens up and looks at Kat. She can't keep that secret anymore, not from Kat. It's one secret she can tell. "We were … lovers," she says, finding the word inadequate, but it is the closest thing to the truth. They weren't committed, they weren't a couple, they simply enjoyed one another company in more ways than one. But it was deeper on some levels, as evidenced by the fact that Kat listed her in her living will as the person to tell the doctors to pull the plug.

If Kat is shocked by that revelation, she doesn't show it. Still gazing at Veronica, she nods. "I had a feeling. I just didn't want to make any assumptions." She reaches up and brushes some hair away from Vee's face and lets her fingertips touch her wet cheek. She doesn't linger too long, but she keeps a hold of Veronica's hand. "Can you stay for a little bit?" she asks as she leans in to press her forehead against Veronica's. "I don't really want to be alone." And she has a feeling that Veronica could use the time as well.

"Sure," Vee says. squeezing Kat's hand. "I do… have something to tell you. I don't know how to… not even Minea or the others know, because it's sort of a secret. Do you remember Brian? Winters? We're still together. Well, back together. And sort of engaged, but not really. I don't know if it will ever happen — I don't really see a way for it to happen, but I didn't want to say no, either." She frowns at that. "I can't picture it happening, but I hate that this world makes that such an impossibility to even hope for, too." She sighs. "You want to watch a movie or something? I have some DVDs. All the movies you missed, unless you've been watching them in Staten Island." The last is a feeble attempt at a joke.

Katherine listens as Veronica talks and nods. She's not sure how she feels about Brian, though there is a small twinge of something inside her. Jealousy maybe? Hard to say, since Katherine doesn't ever remember being so before. "I think if you really want it to happen, it can." And that's all she says on that subject. Her arm moves around behind Veronica as she leans back against the wall and hugs Vee to her gently.

"How about we just sit and talk for a while. It's been a very long time, I think."


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