Participants:
| Scene Title | So Much To Say |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Liz has some news that needs to be given in private. |
| Date | April 8, 2019 |
Rooftop of Dorchester Towers
While Abby took the group up to the rooftop, Elisabeth hid in her master bedroom… She needed the space to absorb the shock of seeing them along with time to make the phone calls that need to be made. Teo's going to shit a brick. Hana… she doesn't even know what Hana's going to do. Cat… dammit, Cat's out of town. She leaves a message for the panmnesiac to come to the apartment when she gets the message. Generally, she'd rather go ahead and set up some of the folks here at Cat's building in the old safehouse apartments that are still reinforced, but….. given that there's a Company agent among them, she doesn't want to give that location away right now. If they go back home, that could be a priceless commodity. So instead, she made arrangements with Tamara's roommate to send a couple to that apartment to sleep, kept a few here, put a few in Abby's apartment, and put several in Alec's apartment because he's also out of town. It's a temporary measure designed to keep them all in Dorchester Towers until we can determine what to do next, just to let them eat and get some rest. She also contacts her nanny and asks her to pick Cameron up from school, take him to music lessons, and then take him to Felix and Lee's unless she hears back from Elisabeth otherwise.
As many bases as possible covered, Elisabeth makes a point of being busy when they all come back, getting them fed and directing traffic. It's only as everyone finally makes ready to leave that she looks Norton Trask in the face, meeting his eyes. Her own blue ones are … shuttered. "I think… we need to talk. Wanna head for the roof again?"
Trask swallows as he looks up at the roof, he has been rather quiet since the last trip up there, he is still in all black, but his guns are on the table, perfect place for a little kid to walk in and play with them. They are both empty, he took the ammo and checked the chambers before putting them down. His mask is next to the guns, so everyone here has seen his face. He bites his lip and nods slowly, letting her lead the way to the roof.
It's a habit for Elisabeth to make sure the house is safe for Cam. She picks up his guns and takes them back into the master bedroom, putting them into her closet in spite of the fact that the boy's not even in the apartment. When she comes back out, she ushers Norton out of the apartment and up to the rooftop. They cannot have this conversation inside where others will hear. There's…. too much.
As they reach the top, where the morning sun is warming the air with springtime brightness, Liz shoves her hands in her pockets. She absently notes that she's starting to shake, feeling a strange need to hide it from him. "I… have a lot to tell you," she finally offers softly, seeming unable now to take her eyes from his face. So many years… and her son is starting to look so much like his father.
Trask moves to the edge of the roof and leans on it, looking out at the park. "I can imagine…look Liz…I…you know I didn't mean this to happen right? I meant to come back…I promised I would…god you must have thought I have been dead all this time, when I never came back from Moab."
"You did come back from Moab, Norton," Elisabeth says gently. "You came back… the raid failed, but … everyone came back. You were all… " She sucks in a breath, and says quietly. "You didn't die until 2011. There was…. after the raid, things went to hell a little bit, but then they got better. Phoenix's involvement in the supervirus and saving the world came out, and we were all treated like heroes. That was sort of the turning point. Most people started to realize just what good Evolveds could do for the world. Not all, but most. And we were all pardoned and given medals and all kinds of crap. Helena became this big icon, the face of Phoenix. The face of Evolved everywhere, really. And in 2011, she was giving a speech at Columbia…. and an anti-Evo group bombed the talk. A lot of people…. including Helena, Alex, and you… were killed."
Trask blinks a couple times. Knowing when and how you are going to die… now that is huge. He turns to look at her, taking a step back he is stopped by the edge of the building, and sits down heavily. "So…two more years….do I make the most of it at least?"
Only now do the tears start to overflow, and Elisabeth looks out over the city toward the park. Soft laughter mingles with a sob. "I don't even know where to start, Norton." She pulls her hands from her pockets and moves forward to touch his face. "Yes… you made the most of them. You kept on doing what you wanted to do. I think maybe it bothered you when your identity came out, but… I don't know. You never really told me." She bites her lip. "There's so much to tell you, and … I don't know if I should. I don't even know if you'll be here long enough. And knowing so much about the future…. might change it."
Trask shakes his head looking out at the park, "No…if this future is what it appears to be…if…we won…there is no way I'm letting anything change it. Tell me Liz…are you happy here?"
"Happy?" Elisabeth wipes at those tears. "Yeah… mostly. Aside from the fact that the guy I wanted to spend my life with died on me? Yeah… I'm happy enough." She moves to sit next to him, trying to figure out how to break it to him. "You left me everything I would ever need…. even some things I didn't know I wanted back then."
Trask rises and moves over to give her a hug, holding her tight for several moments. "I am sorry…I…told you I would always find a way back…I guess in a way I did?" He tries to make a slight joke of it, to cheer her up.
Wrapping her arms around his body, Elisabeth buries her face against his shoulder, in the hollow of his neck and breathes in. And she loses it, then. It's good that they're both sitting, because he can feel the shaking as she loses control of it all and cries. It's far more than the moments he might have initially offered — long, long minutes of uncontrolled, nearly silent sobs before she can get control of it. And when she finally pulls away from him, Elisabeth forces a smile for him. "Oh, Norton…. you found a way back. Part of you never left." She's sorry that it's so abrupt, but she can't help it. "Your son looks more like you every day."
Trask blinks and looks at you for several moments kind of like you grew a second head. I mean it's the future…ok….we can do this. We won….hey chaulk up one for the good guys. New York City went from nuclear wasteland to verdent jungle…I mean anything is possible. But….this? No way man…..His brain takes a few moments to process. It seems stuck in a loop for the first…90 seconds or so, and as the silence grows longer and longer he realizes that the silence could be sending the wrong message and he needs to say something now…right now before she jumps to any conclusions about his suitability as a father….but the only thing his mind has accsess to is the last few words he heard, so he parrots them back to her… "My Son?"
There's a long pause as she watches his face. Elisabeth is … nervous. As if she's telling him she's pregnant, … or something. "Yes, Norton…. your son." She wrings her hands together, stepping back a little bit. "He was born … in February 2012."
Trask says, "But you said I died in 2011…that means…." He does the math, I mean he did graduate high school after all. "Liz…you were pregnent…when I…left you alone…""
Elisabeth nods slowly. "I was pregnant when you died. Yeah." She shrugs just a little. "Didn't even know for a while. Four months." She grins a little bit.
Trask says, "What is his name…does he know I'm….God he must have never met me….god Liz…I'm sorry…sorry I…wasn't there." He looks away a little shame touching his face."
She'd forgotten how entirely self-flagellating he could be. Elisabeth's spine stiffens, and she says quietly, thoughtfully, "That was one of the traits that used to drive me mad. That every time something happened, you'd apologize like somehow it was your fault. I always knew you weren't as submissive as all that… but it wasn't til after Moab that you quit doing it." She sighs softly. "I don't want your apology. You didn't ask to die. You didn't ask to leave me alone here with a child. But I will say this to you…. and I say it every day to God and the Universe. 'Thank you.' Because without Cameron, my life would not have been nearly as good as it has been for the past seven years."
Trask says, "Cam…Cameron?" his voice cracks a little and he looks at you, smiling, apparently he likes the name. "I guess I could apoogize for apologizing..but…well…that is likely just going to get me in trouble." He leans over to give you a hug, holding you tightly."
God… for so long, she wondered what he'd have thought. Of their son's name. Of their son. Elisabeth once more slides into Norton's hug and holds tightly. "Cameron Alexander Trask Harrison. He has…. more godparents than you can shake a stick at," she laughs softly.
Trask smiles, "Cameron Alexander Trask Harrison…He's what…7? Is he at school….I….wow….I am not sure what we should tell him. I…we don't know how long we are going to be here.
Elisabeth nods slowly. "It's going to be difficult. He's… a genius. And he knows what you look like. If we don't want him to know for the first few days, I can send him over to Felix and Lee's place to stay. He'll be okay with that."
Trask says, "A Genius?" He rises slowly, stepping away to look out over the city, and then takes a good deep breadth, "HERE THAT WORLD MY KIDS A GENIUS!!!""
That makes Elisabeth laugh, really hard. "Musical genius, not overall genius. He's just a normal seven-year-old in a lot of ways… but yeah. He's… ahead of himself in lots of ways too."
Trask turns and smiles, "Musical genius huh? Wow…I…never had much talent. I guess he's lucky to have your genes then. Liz…you….you look incredible. I have missed you so much. I didn't know how much till just now."
Moving to stand now, Elisabeth walks along the rooftop looking out over the park. "God, Nortong, there's so much you need to know if you're going to stay here. If you're not going to stay, there's so much we need to probably NOT tell you. Shit… this is insane." She looks at him. "If you don't go back… what does that mean? Is this just a different timeline now?"
Trask says, "I don't know…I….well lets just say I never really did much research into time travel, given I never planned on doing it. Hell even if we find a way back for everyone else I may not be able to take it."
Elisabeth raises her eyebrows and says softly, "There's going to have to be a way, Norton…. because if this isn't an alternate timeline of some kind… then your very presence here could negate Cam's."
Trask nods, "Most of the people who came with are prisoners…but…one of them is Company, she was part of the defending forces, and appaently tried to kill Helena. We need to keep an eye on her.
"Well, shit," Elisabeth says softly. "The last thing we need is for her to get near any of the kids, then." She grimaces. "And she can't go to Cat's safehouse, either. For now, let's put her in Tamara's apartment. We'll need to put a guard on her … and you should warn her that Company agents were nearly entirely executed, so she needs to keep her head DOWN."
Trask says, "She was in critical conditin when we arrived, Helena I think wanted to just put a bullet in the back of her head and leave her there. I… well we will see if I made a mistake or not, but she is my responsibility now."
Her jaw clenches, and Elisabeth nods slowly. It's been so long since she's been in paranoid soldier mindset, the fit is… uncomfortable. And it's evident in her face. "All right," she says softly. "I'll put you both at Tam's place. At least until you can get some sleep. I took the day off, we'll be working on getting everyone set up with places to stay and trying to work out what to do from here. There's…." She grimaces. "Some of you, if you step out on the street, it could get ugly. Helena, Alex, even you… were all heralded as heroes. Your faces are known. The others… I don't even know who most of the others you got back here with are, except Jessica."
Trask says, "The brunette was at the bridge…I think she is with Vanguard. The blonde on the couch is company, I still don't know her name. Isabelle helped us escape Staten. The other man seems to be a friend of Hell's from inside."
"The brunette I don't know at all, though Abby seems to," Elisabeth grimaces. "And when Isabelle wakes up, I hope to God you have your powers back and Abby's here — cuz otherwise, she's likely to kill me. I arrested her and got her sent to Moab, a couple weeks or so before the raid."
Trask says, "She's already awake…woke up about 20 mins ago…we all came up to the roof together." He looks at you and raises an eyebrow, "I don't know how long till they come back…I got drugged in the battle. " He sighs softly and looks out at the forest below, "I don't even know where to start.""
"Yeah…. I know what you mean. Really." Elisabeth grins, though. "Now that I've dropped the biggest bombshell I've got on you, the rest …. well, some of them are big, I guess. Old enemies who are now friends or allies, cops." She tilts her head. "Ask me what you want to ask and I'll try to fill in the blanks. I'm working on printing out a bunch of relevant articles and things for you guys — the ones that were pivotal. To give you a sense of where we are now."
Trask says, "I am not sure I really need…or want to know details….there are a few people I care about…would look up, but all of them will prolly have heart attacks if I show up on thier door step, and with the exception of Claire thats a universally bad idea. Hiro didn't come with us. There is no ticket back….and the longer we are here….the worse it will be to leave."
Elisabeth nods. "Then let's not worry about the details for now, until we figure out whether we'll be able to get you back quickly, okay? I agree that maybe you shouldn't know what the future holds sometimes, but…. given that you're going to be around me a lot, I thought you … needed to know about him."
Trask nods, "Thank you…for telling me….I want to see him..at some point…if I can….I know it isn't smart for him to see me."
"Even if it's only in the park from a little ways away, you will see him before you go back. That much I swear to you," Elisabeth says quietly. "And I'll make sure you have his baby album, if you want to see it." She smiles a little sadly. "Obviously you're not in it, but … he's a happy, healthy boy, Norton. And he knows that you're his father, he knows everything about you." She never kept it from the child.
Trask says, "Not…everything I've done I've always been proud of…but Liz…I want you to know, your the one thing in my life I never regreted, never was ashamed of, never had any reservations about."
Her smile at that is pretty radiant, and Liz says softly, "I loved you. Even back then, I loved you more than anyone. If I never say it to you," because she can't remember if she told him, or if she told him often enough, "You were one of the few constants in my life, one of the few people I relied on absolutely. And you gave me the one person who is the center of my universe. No matter what else happens… I'm really grateful that you'll at least get to see him."
Trask smiles and leans over and gives her a hug, he caught the past tense on the word love, but says nothing about it, just holding her a few more moments before saying softly, "I need t go to bed….I didn't sleep much on the plane…"
For her, it was so long ago. Not that she doesn't love him now, but for Elisabeth… it's been ten years. Seven of them he's been dead. She's come to peace with his loss, mostly. Though when he wraps his arms around her, she curls into him as if only moments have passed. "I have never stopped loving you," she whispers softly. But part of her wishes this hadn't happened. She turns, kissing him fiercely for a long moment, and then takes him to Tamara's apartment, where can stay if she likes or other arrangements can be made. "I'll… see you later on. I'm sure we'll have time to… work out what to do," she says quietly as she leaves him there. Her mind still hasn't stopped whirling.
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