Participants:
| Scene Title | Static |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After discussing the strange problems they face, Isaac, Kaylee and Nova end with more questions than they started with. |
| Date | January 17, 2021 |
La Luz
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Isaac Faulkner sits in the back corner booth of La Luz, waiting patiently.
Waiting is something he's never been terribly good at, but right now he's okay with it. La Luz is a place that Isaac Faulkner holds near and dear, after all, and even his electoral defeat in November hasn't done much to tarnish the place. The company he's keeping may also have something to do with it; Nova's here, and the person he's waiting for is one of his most stalwart allies. Maybe it's just the fact that this meeting will hopefully be a first step towards getting things back under control.
Whatever the reason, he's waiting with good grace. Also unusually, there is visible security present. Isaac has always favored keeping his security team at arm's length, but now a pair of imposing looking men in suits stand near his table. Another pair lurk unseen outside.
It may be due to years of recitals and orchestra solos that Nova manages to seem calm, her expressions placid and even content. The tranquil surface hides the worries within. In that, among other things, she and Isaac are alike.
Being out in public after the strange events of the day does worry her, more for Isaac’s sake than her own. After all, she’s still normal. Maybe. There’s the question of what she’s seen and why, and why Asami has said she’s broken and needs fixed.
No longer broken, at least, is her wrist — Isaac had healed it. There is no sign it was ever broken at all, which would probably not have been the case if she had gotten it set and casted. Her hand rests on his, and she looks to the doors. The sooner the meeting starts and ends without trouble, the better.
It would be the detail outside that would alert them that Kaylee Petrelli had arrived. Dropped off by her driver at the entrance. When she finally approaches the table, a pair of sunglasses are slid off her face and tucked inside the jacket of her dark blue pin-striped power suit. Offering a subdued smile, despite the circles under her eyes, she doesn’t hesitate to sit across from the pair.
“Senator. Ms. Leverett,” Kaylee greets them pleasantly, even though her eyes look at them a touch nervously. “I’m not going to lie, I was surprised to get a call, considering..”
Considering what happened to him in the Petrelli home the day before.
"We've been friends for years, Kaylee. Allies, even. That's not something I'd discard lightly," Faulkner says quietly. "In the political world — or the business world either, for that matter — people you can trust are few and far between," he says, his hand giving Nova's the lightest of squeezes.
He takes a deep breath. "But I suppose, to start with, I should ask just what you've been told about what happened yesterday," he says, and though his face shows no sign of tension, his hand tightens on Nova's as he prepares for the worst.
Nova’s blue eyes turn toward the door as Kaylee enters, and she sits up a little straighter. She smiles at the greeting and lifts her free hand as if to wave away such formality, at least for herself.
“Nova,” she murmurs. “It’s nice to see you.” The sentiment seems genuine in Nova’s earnest voice, with no hint of any harbored animosity or fear of the Petrelli woman.
When Isaac’s fingers tighten around hers, she looks up at him with a small smile, but remains quiet to listen to Kaylee’s answer to his question. She reaches for the glass of water with her free hand, taking a sip but keeping her eyes on Kaylee, curious.
“I heard that you both stopped by the house and that she helped you and the girls with your.. Abilities? That you got hurt in the process, but… recovered.” Kaylee states it all a bit too simply, quietly, to have all the facts, clearly she hadn’t heard everything about what happened. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to greet you, I’d been taking care of a few foundation things.”
There is a bit of a pained expression, before Kaylee says with a sigh, “I think… yesterday in general was an interesting day and I’m still… processing it myself.” She looks up at Isaac pointedly, “Is everything okay?”
Isaac is silent for a beat. Two. Watching Kaylee's face. "Helped me," he murmurs to himself distractedly, echoing Kaylee's words. It's an almost Mephistophelean twisting of the truth, completely obliterating the spirit of it while staying remarkably close to the letter. He's almost impressed. Actually, scratch that; he is impressed. It's a much better thing to be feeling right now than indignant outrage, which is the other option.
Kaylee's question, though, brings him back to the here and now; he looks back to her, his lips compressing into a tight line. "No," he says softly. "No, Kaylee, I… I really don't think it is," he exhales slowly. "I regret not getting in touch with you sooner, but I wasn't in the best of shape yesterday." He pauses for a moment, considering. "I have grave concerns about your houseguest. And you haven't been told all the details of what happened yesterday."
Nova’s brows lift at the ease and calm with which Kaylee says the word abilities. She sips from the glass, then sets it down again, watching a drop of water slide down the side. She waits until it reaches the table, before looking back up to Isaac, and then Kaylee.
“You have one, then,” Nova murmurs, one brow lifting as a visual question mark, though her voice drops at the end of the statement — it is a statement, rather than a question. Her blue eyes scan the room, at the few other diners, seemingly happy, living ordinary lives quite unlike what Isaac and Nova, and presumably Kaylee have experienced in the last 48 hours.
“The girls are both okay? You all have … abilities?” The word seems strange, awkward in its vaguery. Nova’s cautious curiosity plays a foil to Isaac’s restrained ire, and Nova glances his way almost apologetically.
“I’ve known Asami for sometime, Senator,” Kaylee says slowly, understanding the ire. Her reflection mimicked that very feeling with the scowl leveled at her. “I believe her when she says she didn’t do what she was accused of. There is something going on… I just… ” She rubs two fingers against her forehead before sighing. “Government conspiracies and cover-ups… let’s not forget people with superpowers.. I-i-it’s all overwhelming.”
Which was probably the biggest understatement of the year.
Nova’s question gets a guilty glance from Kaylee, before her gaze falls to the side looking suddenly less comfortable sitting there. But after a moment there is the barest of nods, even as she looks everywhere, but them.
“After the girls, I allowed her to… I didn’t think…” Kaylee's voice catches as emotions start to threaten to drown her again. Holding up her hands palms towards them. She needed a moment. Shaking her head, she takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily. Only then does she hazard a glance between them both.
She looked afraid.
“I wish I hadn’t,” Kaylee finally says, softly.
Nova's asking good questions; point to her. Isaac offers her the barest flicker of a restrained smile to show his approval… but it's Kaylee who has the majority of his attention at the moment.
Isaac has never seen Kaylee Petrelli look afraid, and it's definitely jarring… but at the same time, that expression and those words go a long way towards easing the tension he's feeling. He can't deny feeling a measure of relief… because she's not the only one who's afraid, and the fact that she is afraid means that she, unlike her daughters, unlike Nicole, has some idea of just how bad this situation is. That is a good starting point.
"It's a lot," Faulkner agrees. "But you're not without resources, and neither am I… and if things turn bad, I'll do everything I can to fight for you and your family. I mean that, Kaylee," he says firmly, his eyes meeting hers. He holds eye contact with her for a moment, then gives a small nod; carefully cultivated mannerisms of reassurance, perhaps, but that doesn't make the sentiment behind them any less real.
That's all the reassurance he has to offer, though, and he recognizes that it isn't much in comparison to what they're up against; secret superpowers and disappearing people and government conspiracies, oh my. "There's a lot I'd like to discuss with you; what happened yesterday, with Asami. What happened after. What happened the day before. I'm afraid most of it doesn't make for the best lunch conversation… but I'm of the opinion that knowing everything we can about the situation we're in will give us a better chance of being able to deal with it," he says resolutely.
When Kaylee looks first guilty, then afraid, Nova’s expression turns to one of sympathy, and she leans forward to touch the other woman’s hand lightly.
“Don’t feel bad,” she murmurs in a soft voice. “I wanted to, too.” She offers Isaac an apologetic glance for the admission, though he was there when she asked Asami to “fix” her. If he hadn’t put himself between her and Asami, she most likely would have accepted the offer, whatever ability the other woman would have unlocked in her like she had the others.
Part of her is still curious, but Nova pushes that down, especially after seeing the fear in Kaylee’s eyes, after hearing the regret in her voice.
Leaning back, she looks up at Isaac then to the window, to the world beyond the glass that has failed to follow the rules she thought it would always follow. “None of it makes sense. I don’t know how we can deal with it when we don’t understand it,” she murmurs, a rare bit of pessimism from the usually upbeat musician.
“I don’t know a lot of what happened with the girls,” Kaylee sounds a bit sheepish, “I’ve… After she… after I trashed my studio and tried to kill Asami, I stayed away from them.” She lets out a shaky breath. Fingers fidgeting where they rest folded on the table, purposely ignoring the reflections around them.
“But.. whatever you want to know, I’ll try to help,” Kaylee says in agreement.
“I do have a question for you both.” Kaylee looks between the two of them. “Before Asami started being accused of… what it was she did and learned about her ability. Did either of you experience weird things?” Her eyes level on Nova, “Jac mentioned what happened in the park the other night, but anything else?”
Kaylee licks her lips and bites her lip briefly before explaining further, “Like seeing things? Experiencing things? For me it’s a little boy, who I feel like is my son,” which she doesn’t have, Issac knows that. “Jacquline was treated like she didn’t exist at school one day. Even knocked a glass out of her teacher's hand and the woman acted like she just happened to drop it.”
Isaac gives the barest hint of a sad smile at Nova's admission. "She might have persuaded me too," Isaac admits quietly to Nova. "If she'd bothered to try," he adds, his expression tightening; he's still more than a little bitter about the fact that he wasn't given a choice.
Isaac pauses then, considering his words… then, carefully, he reaches over and lightly lays his hand on Nova's. "I want you to have a choice," he says quietly. "And… if you decide to… go and see what she can do?" he says hesitantly. "Well… I'll do my best to support you. That's what you're supposed to do for someone you care about, right? Give them space to spread their wings…" he murmurs; there's a tight smile on his face, but there's a flicker of pain in his eyes as he speaks; for all the heights he's reached, that's something he's never really had.
Kaylee's story is a welcome distraction, though not an entirely pleasant one, either. The fact that she'd stayed away from her daughters elicits a slightly pained expression, and hearing her talk about hallucinating a son draws another. Jac, however… the nature of her particular hallucination is interesting, and he files it away for future reference before speaking.
"I did. Sometimes… I would see my father. In mirrors, on screens. Replacing my reflection. My image," Isaac admits. "I… I thought it was just stress or something."
He pauses, though, frowning as something she'd said catches up with him. She'd tried to kill Asami? Not something he'd have expected from Kaylee. Good for her, though. Then he looks back to Nova. He's said his piece; now she's up.
Nova squeezes Isaac’s hand and smiles up at him when he says he’d support her. She murmurs a soft “Thank you,” though it’s clear she’s still conflicted — she’s curious but frightened, and Kaylee’s words do little to diminish the fear. Her expression draws into a worried scowl as Kaylee speaks of destruction, of violence.
She reaches for the glass of water again, taking another swallow while Isaac answers the question of what he saw. She looks up at him, then back to Kaylee, and offers a small, sad smile of her own.
“Yeah. Apparently we were all seeing weird things and thinking we were quietly going independently insane and not realizing other people were doing so, too,” she murmurs. “I saw someone who looked just like me, but… different. Different clothes, darker hair. Like the one that I saw at the park the other day, but before that, too.”
She looks at each of them, thoughtfully. “Maybe it wasn’t me, but a twin or something? If you both saw family members… even ones you don’t remember. I don’t know. I didn’t feel like I should have known her, like you say you felt when you saw this kid. Just… what the hell, she looks like me.”
Her head tilts. “But Jac didn’t see someone, just… couldn’t be seen? So that’s not the same at all. Has Brynn had anything strange?” She looks over at Isaac. “Have any of your people seen anything weird? Dave? Asami? Nicole?”
There is a small, soft smile for the pair across from her as she watches their interaction. Kaylee was glad that Issac had finally found someone, even if she didn’t know Nova too well yet. “I’m very sorry, Asami did that,” she offers, since it happened in her house. “It’s like she just has to fix us… Some force pushed her to do it. I’m worried about her.” Not the greatest excuse, but…
“But I’m wondering if maybe the government had a point in whatever it is they did to us.” Kaylee’s brows furrow at her own comment. Uncertain.
“But, it does make me feel better that I'm not the only one who had weird things happen. Not so alone.” Kayle sighs out and shakes her head, “I don’t know what to even think. My doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me and I had him run them all, blood work and scans. He put me on antipsychotics, but…” Something about the way her mouth pulls to one side, says it didn’t help.
Nova's question elicits a shake of Isaac's head. "I haven't heard about Dave seeing anything out of the ordinary. Nicole… I think she has. As to Asami…" he trails off, shaking his head. "I trusted her, but… she wouldn't really talk to me about something like that, I don't think. She kept to herself, for the most part."
Kaylee's commentary sees his expression grow grave. "I think you've hit the nail on the head, Kaylee, with regards to Asami. That's what worries me most of all." Isaac folds his hands, leaning forward to look Kaylee in the eye. "I didn't know Asami that well, but I've known her for a long time… and I do know her well enough to know that what happened in there wasn't her."
"The Asami I knew wouldn't have attacked someone, not like that. Wouldn't have injured someone as badly as she injured me, even on accident — she's someone who teaches a sport involving blades to children! You told me at one point, I believe, that Jac took lessons from her; I'm wagering you can count on one hand the number of times Jac's sustained an injury in her class, and on no hands the number of times she's sustained a serious injury," Faulkner lays out his case, never breaking eye contact. "And yet… she attacks me."
He shakes his head slowly, letting that sink in for a moment. "You said she was compelled," he says quietly. "I agree. The look in her eyes as she came at me… that wasn't the Asami I knew. And if that compulsion, that need, is in her deeply enough to override the instincts she's honed over years of combat instruction? That she could go far enough to nearly kill someone just to get her next fix?" Again Faulkner shakes his head. "I'm worried about her too, Kaylee… but I'm more worried about how far she might end up going," he admits. "Because she's not in control. Not if she can be kicked out of the driver's seat that easily."
"And, as you say… there's also the matter of why," Faulkner says. "I don't know for certain that the government did this… whatever it is… to us; I'm wary to make an assumption there. It does seem fairly obvious that they have an interest in keeping these… abilities… suppressed, though… and, like you, I wonder if they might not have good reason. I have some thoughts on that, in fact," he says, frowning. "I believe that yesterday, Jac said she had mentioned the situation with Justice Quinn to you?"
Nova sits quietly, fingers moving from the glass to rub a spot on the opposite wrist, as if she can still feel the break that Isaac had healed the day Asami had tried to “fix” them. Her brows draw together with thought as she listens, though she nods once or twice in agreement with Isaac’s words.
Her gaze returns to Kaylee’s, though, and she adds her own to Isaac’s for the other woman to answer. “Did she say how she got her ability? She’s unlocking them in us — who unlocked her?” she murmurs. “Did she say the other day?” she asks, turning to Isaac, brows lifting in query — it was such a chaotic blur of events. All she can call to mind is the sound of glass breaking and the sight of blood on Isaac’s face.
Kaylee seems relieved that she and Issac seem to be on the same page about everything and nods an affirmative to the question about Justice. “If so much craziness hadn’t been happening already, I would have thought it was crazy.” It still sounded crazy, but then their world had gotten much crazier.
“Sort of,” Kaylee says to Nova’s question. “She said someone showed her what she always had, but it didn’t sound like it worked the same as what she did to us.” Her eyes drop to her hand seeming to consider something, after a moment she looks up. “She mentioned a name, Violette.” Kaylee pauses a tick to see if it registers, but adds… “I think this person is potentially trustworthy, but I haven’t met her, yet. She may have information on what happened to my husband and brother-in-law.”
There is a weak smile that curls at the corner of Kaylee’s mouth, “I know it’s a risk and all… but Gillian and I have always felt there was something… off?… about what happened. She sent us a photo to Gillian. One the Police didn’t have that showed another person.”
Isaac's eyes snap to Nova as she asks her question; the look on his face might be mistaken for sharpness, but it's not — it's intensity. Because Nova has asked a very good question. Isaac nods once to her, in recognition of her point.
Kaylee's response draws a tilt of Faulkner's head, a slight narrowing of his eyes… but no sign of recognition. "Violette…" he echoes, his voice thoughtful. It's not a lot to go on; he'll have to ask some people to look into it. The mention of a connection to the Petrelli brothers, though, draws a blink. "Do you think that one of them was… afflicted… like Asami is? And do you have any more information about this 'Violette'? A last name?"
“Violette,” Nova murmurs, as if she’s trying to remember if she knows anyone of that name. But she shakes her head, coming up empty. “Sounds either French or pretentious. Or maybe both.”
She smirks slightly. “I can say that. My last name’s French.” The light moment passes, and she lifts her shoulder. “But really it seems like it might be an assumed name. The kind of name people give themselves rather than the one they were born with, you know? Especially if she’s going around giving people information the police don’t have, about possible…”
Blue eyes widen slightly, and she grimaces, glancing over at Kaylee apologetically. “Wrongful deaths.”
“I…” Kaylee stops herself and frowns. Both can see her gazes unfocus, her mouth opens and she gives a soft “huh.” Her eyes move as she thinks back all those years ago.
When she looks up at them again, there is realization there. “I think… maybe… I think Peter knew.” Sitting forward, Kaylee rests arms on the table. “At the time, we thought he was… crazy.” She looks guilty saying that, but she continues. “Like there was one night he was trying to convince Nathan that he could fly. At the time….you know? We tried to get him help for it.”
Of course, now…. He didn’t seem so crazy.
“I need to talk to Gillian,” Kaylee says suddenly, sitting up straighter with her hands over her mouth. “If this… what if this is why they were killed?” Tears start to form in her eyes. “I think.. We’re going to be in some serious trouble if the government finds out,” she whispers, looking at them with scared eyes.
"So… Peter was trying to convince Nathan… that he could fly?" Faulkner asks, frowning. "Then this Violette contacts Asami, and then suddenly she can fly…"
"And the Feds are after her, shooting first and asking questions later," Faulkner says, his mouth tightening into a scowl. "I'm starting to suspect that this Violette might have a more direct involvement in Nathan and Peter's deaths than she's letting on. I mean… Christ," he says, laughing unhappily. "We've got this Violette on one side, infecting Asami with this… this compulsion of hers, and maybe your brother-in-law before her. Then we've got the government on the other side, and if we're not careful they're going to be coming for us."
"Then we've got these abilities themselves, and I'm concerned that they're not without consequence, either. If the government's taking the situation this seriously, there has to be a reason… and I don't think that Asami developing superpowers and Justice Quinn being deleted from reality within the same hour are coincidence."
Isaac looks back to Kaylee, and it's then that he notices the tears starting to form in her eyes. He grimaces — he's used to Kaylee having things under control, being unflappable, but this really is a pretty heavy load to bear. He pulls out a handkerchief and offers it to Kaylee. "This is… rough, I know. It's a lot to process. Do you want to go ahead and order? Talk this mess over after we've had some pasta or something?"
“Oh, my God,” Nova murmurs as Kaylee explains what had happened to Peter Petrelli, and the parallels with Asami are too hard to ignore. “And we all thought we were going crazy, with these things we’ve seen these past few months.”
As Isaac speaks, her head tips and she squeezes his hand, almost apologetically before she speaks again — not about whether to eat pasta or garlic bread. “This Violette may still be an ally. Maybe someone did something to her first. Just like it wasn’t your fault that Asami changed you — and it wasn’t Asami’s fault someone changed her,” she says softly, then adds, quickly, “I know what Asami did was wrong, but if she couldn’t help it, she’s a victim, too. And so maybe is Violette.”
Her blue-eyed gaze turns back to Kaylee. “Maybe she’s not the source but maybe she knows who or what the source is. Maybe Asami can arrange a meeting with her. But we go with back up or something. Hidden cameras, wire taps. I don’t know. Stuff you see on television, because this is all stuff you see on television right?”
Nova leans back, suddenly exhausted and stares at the table in front of her. “Food would be good,” she finally agrees.
There is a small shake of her head and a hand held up to stall Issac. “Thank you, I’ll be fine…. I just… “ Kaylee takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, using it to try and squash the emotions that were boiling to the surface and with it Valerie. The opportunistic bitch would love to come out and say a few things about Asami and Violette.
That was the last thing she wanted in the middle of the shop.
“Food sounds great… maybe some wine for me,” Kaylee says with hopes of it calming her even further. “I need… I need to be careful, if I get too emotional… or even angry, Valerie will surface and take over and with it an insane super strength,” she says quietly to her friends. “I don’t want her to try and kill you too.” Even though they have not done anything that Valerie could consider wrong like Asami did.
Kaylee would rather not take any chances.
Isaac's brow knits as Nova speaks. Asami? A victim? Thinking about it from a certain point of view, that may be true… but she's still a danger in her own right, and her actions have the potential to make more victims still. Before he can voice that, though, an unwanted thought occurs to him, reminding him that a great deal of what he does involves victims; that there is, in fact, no shortage of blood on his own hands, however carefully he may strive to keep the stains carefully concealed. That thought knocks the metaphorical wind out of his sails. Asami, at least, has the excuse of being sometimes out of her mind; what excuse does he have? An inferiority complex with a side of impostor syndrome?
It's all a means to an end, the voice of Daniel Linderman whispers to him from ages past — familiar words, spoken to a much younger Isaac. This world is sick. Linderman had believed that; spoken it as gospel. There will always be those who are willing to break legs, to peddle drugs, to commit any manner of depravity; how much worse would they be if they were allowed to run unfettered? And the simple fact of the matter is, you have to have power if you plan to effect change.
How long has it been since he's thought of those words? Since he remembered them? At the time, he hadn't really understood… and then, after that, for awhile he hadn't really cared. He'd been so focused on making it to the top that he'd stopped having time to think about why. But now…
Now there's Asami. Flying around, imposing her fix on people whether they want it or not. That alone would be… problematic, but what concerns Isaac — what frightens him — is the other side of the coin. People collapsing into singularities, being unmade. The bizarre traffic jam, and the car accident that had come after. The saying goes that once is happenstance, twice coincidence, three times is enemy action… but Isaac doesn't believe in coincidence. What he does believe is that Asami's actions, her fix, is directly tied to what Nova had called glitches in the Matrix.
Something else Isaac believes is this: Asami must be contained. She may have started this path as a tragic victim — Violette may have, too — but Typhoid Mary had been tragic, too. Tragic or not, Asami carries a sickness, and that sickness is a danger to… anyone. Everyone. Possibly the whole world. His personal grievance has nothing to do with it; as upset as he'd been about her attack, what matters now is that she is stopped from doing it to anyone else.
His resolve hardens. Asami must be contained. There must be no more Justice Quinn incidents, no more deadly glitches. He's willing to consider lesser measures, even now, but something must be done to contain her… and if his father's legacy affords him the opportunity to do so, so be it. Although, for the moment, Nicole's handling that particular job. He hopes — oh how he hopes — that she treats it with due gravity.
But… wait. Isaac frowns, tilting his head slightly as he looks to Kaylee. Valerie?
Faulkner's eyes narrow as he considers, his mind racing to put the pieces into place. Valerie had been the one to try to kill Asami. Super strength? It sounds almost like a Jekyll-and-Hyde situation there; calling it problematic would be an understatement. "Yes," he says, nodding. "We can discuss options over food. And some wine might not be a bad idea, either; God knows, this conversation's gotten heavy enough," he says, mustering a faint grin for Kaylee. "Nicole's jumped into the Asami matter, anyway, so there's only so much I can do," he says, a hint of frustration in his voice. "Preparing, mostly, with a side of praying that it's never needed."
(Blissfully) unaware of the inner monologue in Isaac’s mind (as it would no doubt scare her), Nova’s eyes widen at Kaylee’s words, and she shakes her head in confusion.
“I don’t understand. Who’s Valerie?” she murmurs with a shake of her head.
But the implications are there, and the fact that Kaylee feels the need to numb her emotions means that maybe that explanation can wait — until the dulling effects of red wine and filling pasta have set in.