Participants:
Scene Title | Six Crazy Things Before Dinner |
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Synopsis | Liz fills Felix in on what information we've got about Niles Wight… and the situation surrounding him. What they're going to do about it? Who the hell knows?? |
Date | May 4, 2009 |
Elisabeth's Apartment
He's had worse weeks. He's had better, really. Fel's still rattled, both from Niles zapping him, and Deckard trying another shot on him. It's more a mental thing now, than physical…but he looks hollow-eyed and tired, more than really wounded, as he knocks on Liz's door.
Elisabeth herself is still feeling a little wonky, but mostly all right. The worst part was the feeling of numbness at times, and she's still getting that sensation, but it's more a nuisance than a problem for the most part. She opens the door and smiles at her partner in crime. "Hey, you," she greets, gesturing him inside. "You look like hell, Felix. Want a drink?"
"God, yeah," Fel says, looking for a seat, and dropping himself heavily into it. "I feel awful, really. I just….I mean, I'm getting over essentially having house-level current crammed up my ass, but I don't know." Supposedly one of the most effective treatments for being bipolar is electroshock, but in this case, it seems to have done the reverse.
Heading for the kitchen to bring a bottle of water to him, Elisabeth brings two and she plops onto the couch next to him. "I'm feeling … better. Mostly." She smiles faintly. "Aside from the occasional moments of not being able to feel my fingers and toes or whatever. But I've been assured that will pass shortly." Opening her own water, she sips from the bottle and looks at him. "I'm not entirely sure how to follow up on this one."
He makes a face, like he's just bitten into something bitter. "Likely, we call in HomeSec. Since he was more than enough for three mutant cops," Fel says, limp as a rag. "Yeah, I've had fits of numbnness, too."
Elisabeth leans her head back and tells him quietly, "I'm not sure how much help Homeland's going to be either. In point of fact, they may be the cause of all this." She turns her head on the back of the couch and asks, "Do you remember Edward Ray?"
"Yeah," Fel says, eloquently. "The supposed mastermind in charge of the whole Anti-Vanguard op. Haven't heard much of 'im lately," And then he sits up, which clearly takes some effort, and peers at her. "What're you saying?"
Elisabeth swallows another mouthful of water and says quietly, "Electricity man is a guy named Niles Wight. Until recently, he was living in the Jefferson Farm Trailer Park… he and some others there, including our friend Aria, were living under the radar. Doing things that most likely would have gotten them arrested. And then Wight vanished. My best guess? He got picked up by Homeland Security. Trouble…. the Wight who showed up last night? He's not the Wight of today. Some of our mutual friends have reason to believe that a small group of people from the future have been thrown back in time, and they're here to change some things they don't like — up to and including the fact that all of them were being held in Moab." She sighs.
The look he gives her is completely and utterly hangdog. "What?" His tone is putupon, rather than particularly amazed. It's like he's sort of hit his limit for shock this year, and from now on it's that thousand yard stare. "So, once upon a time, he wasn't that bad, and a little stint at Moab made him like that?"
Elisabeth nods slowly. "Maybe. Or…. maybe something happened to him between now and whenever he came from in addition to that, I don't know." She sighs heavily. "When our friends made their move on Moab - the Evo Black Hole of Calcutta - we know that there was a major temporal distortion. Some of our people have still not turned back up, but we do know they were thrown a bit in time. Cat, for example, lost about 24 hours or something like that. And we've recently obtained intel that indicates at least six people have …. well, I don't know if they traded places with our people somehow, or if our people got sucked into a vortex they created during the Moab raid to retrieve our folks or what. But we know six or more people from our time are missing, and we know Robin Hood — the technogeek thief? — along with Edward Ray, Nathan Petrelli, and Niles Wight that we've ID'd have come back from SOME point in the future."
Elisabeth adds, "We also know that SOME of them have had their powers swapped, and that Tyler Case is one of the people who've come back. So… we think in addition to time traveling, we're dealing with doppelgangers. Like… the current-time Case didn't pop into THEIR time just because his future self is here."
Felix stiffens, and peers up at her. "That would explain how Eileen Ruskin somehow has degenerative powers. And did you know that Gabriel Gray is apparently a free man?" His tone is borderline despairing. "So, people have traded places….and been switched. This is like….I don't know. The plot of a terrible manga, or something."
Elisabeth grimaces a little bit and murmurs, "Yes… I knew." She's known for some time. His presence was integral to the Moab hit. She rubs her forehead. "Look, I know how you feel about some of what goes on, and I do my best to keep you out of it. But …. these people — there is one other that we haven't identified yet, and I don't know if it's likely to be a chubby man or a woman because I don't know which one Robin Hood actually is, if he's even in that painting — they've come back to stop the downfall of the Company. They're claiming that there's something worse out there. An entity that will rise to power when the Company falls. But… I'm forced to take that assessment with a grain of salt, you know? Ray has no proof."
"It's like a chain of dominos. I was hoping the Vanguard'd be the end of it, but it was just sort of the beginning, da?" Fel says, looking to her with that utter weariness in his face. "I know….I don't want to press you on that, Liz, but why didn't you tell me?"
"About which part?" she asks him. And then she cuts her eyes to him. "Sylar? I didn't find out until just before the Moab raid," she tells him. "I didn't know anything about his escape or anything else. Teo kept me in the dark too."
Felix's eyes narrow at that. "Laudani, huh?" He remains….curiously unsurprised. Almost resigned, really. "Yeah. Sylar. I know I sound like Captain Ahab on the subject…." he rubs at his eyes with the ball of his thumb.
Elisabeth shrugs a little. "Can't say as I blame you, Felix." She shakes her head. "He came to me just before the raid and demanded to know if I could work with it… and because Gray's power was necessary, I bit my tongue and did it." She sighs. "My world is getting murkier every time I look around," she admit with a faint half-smile that's not at all amused. "Seriously, anyway…. the reason I'm telling you all this is because you caught the Barberis case, and that's tied to Wight too. So you need to be aware that we're up against some very specific problems. Cat's supposed to be meeting some people in the next day or so, and I'm hoping to GOD that she has some better information, cuz right now? I've got not a single clue how to manage any of this. I mean…. if we catch and run in Wight or Case or Petrelli's older self…. what the hell will Homeland do to them? And if their information is accurate, the fall of the Company is fairly imminent here. And frankly? I'm not sure I'm against that, no matter what. You know? But if the Company and HomeSec get wind of that, and Ray and his crew can tell them who orchestrated the fall…. we could lose all chance of taking them down too."
Felix just looks….profoundly weary. Disappointed, and not precisely with Liz herself. "Yeah. That's….beyond me. Let the Company go, and face what comes after? Shore them up,, even if they're pulling the strings on some of these villiains."
Elisabeth nods. "Yeah…. those decisions feel way the hell above my pay grade," she says quietly. "Maybe now you know why I've been … kinda burying myself in the detective exam and the more 'mundane' Evo cases." She hasn't really felt capable of helping in any fashion with what's going on.
"I should tell the Bureau," he suggests, though his tone remains flat. "I don't know what resources we could muster that would take on Homesec, though," he admits, propping his head up on his hand, and finally remembering his drink.
Elisabeth reaches out briefly and brushes her fingertips on his cheek. "Hey… did you hear?" she asks on a complete tangent. "I got my shield," she tells him. Because…. well, what the hell? Now that she's told him all her bad news, may as well hand him the good, right?
And, unexpectedly, he kisses her fingers. It's teasing, him turning his face just enough to get lips against fingertips. "Congratulations. Always that wonderful act of alchemy, turning tin to gold."
Indeed, Elisabeth looks very surprised at his action, chuckling at him lightly. "Hey, I'll take any good news I can get at this moment. I'm going to make a visit to Aria in the hospital tomorrow and see what she might be able to tell me about places Wight might go to ground. I know there's a time differential there, but…. it might give us a place to start looking for him. And …" She sighs. "I think we do need to consider bringing Homeland in on it. Not because I want to, but… they may have a better idea how to neutralize him than we do."
"That's exactly what I'm saying," he agrees, looking up at her with a somewhat brighter expression. Interagency flirting, for the win. "Let me come along? I mean, to see Aria? I should talk to her anyhow, and it'll save us both time and effort?"
"Sure, I'm easy," Liz replies with a quick grin, daring him to comment. "Tell you what, we'll leave the precinct at 8am, if you're not out on a call?"
Felix offers her a mocking little salute, fingertips to his temples. "Sounds great, lady."
Elisabeth grins. "Wanna sit and veg a while?" she offers. "I wouldn't mind the company… I'll even offer real food. Made a coffee cake today."
"Sure," Felix says, looking pleased. "I'm finally out of the doghouse with Lee. He gave me an ultimatum about not ending up in the hospital because I went haring off without backup. But he's coming around."
Elisabeth raises a brow and goes to bring coffee cake, coffee, and whatnot on a tray into the living room, ruffling his hair as she passes behind him. "Find a movie. And you're damn lucky he didn't beat your head in. You keep scaring the shit out of him, and you're gonna find yourself without your best friend, you know," she tells him. "You should take it seriously — he was a wreck when you were dead, Felix. I can't even begin to tell you how big a wreck." She has a lot of sympathy for Leland's side of this. "Just quit being stupid," she advises, as she brings stuff back in.
Felix's face softens, at the mention of Lee. "I'm trying," he says. "I really am. Shit's addictive. I….really?" Why does he sound…hopeful?