Participants:
| Scene Title | Subject Change |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Gillian and Sal talk for the first time over the phone. They talk blood tests, Gabriel and Teo's evil twin. |
| Date | June 25, 2009 |
The telephone
With a movie fresh in her memory, Gillian took a few minutes to glance over the Catabase to check something out. It isn't that she doesn't trust Cat to take care of it, it remains a personal matter in many ways, and she'd rather talk to the person who might handle it than send it through more people. With a number in memory to go with the name, the former librarian steps out, to find a good place to call from her Phoenix-given cellphone. Mr. Sal Silvatti? You have a phone call.
Sal Silvatti is close to becoming Sonny Bianco soon - for a time. He has a few things to take care of as himself, so a 'visit' from Peru is scheduled soon. His dear mother managed to make sure Daddy Bianco would be busy when his supposed flight comes in, but that means he's got to time things carefully.
He's withdrawn from the safehouses to a hotel not far from his old condo. There's two phones on his person, one belonging to Sonny, the other to Sal. One is bright red, the other sleek silver, so he remembers which voice to use when answering the phone.
He scoops up the red one, clears his throat and says, "Hello?"
"Mr… Doctor? I'm not sure. Cat Chesterfield mentioned you might be able to help me with a problem…" The voice on the other end of the line doesn't exactly sound confused about what she's saying, so much as who she's calling. Definitely female, the woman's voice is raspier than most women's, almost as if she has a tonsil problem. "My name's Gillian Childs."
"Ah, uh, not…officially a doctor. But I have medical skills. It's complicated." There's an awkward tremor to Sal's voice that suggests he'd rather not go into it. Lots of people in Phoenix have secrets that are secret for a reason.
Childs? Why does that ring a bell?
Then, "What can I do for you? You're not inuured, are you?" Concern is evident in his tone.
"No, I'm fine," Gillian says rather quickly, even laughing in a raspy way for moment. She's invincible, pretty much. "I recently found out I may not… be related to my family. And I wanted to get a confirmation. But this isn't something that I want to go to a public lab over…"
"So you want a way to have a discrete blood test?" There's the sound of shuffling papers on Sal's end. "You caught me at a good time. I'm likely to have access to equipment and resources I don't normally do. If you can get me the samples?" And then a pause. Something clicks. Wait. "Gillian…are you a…friend of Gabriel Gray's?" His words are hesitant.
And that would be exactly what she needs. Gillian opens her mouth to respond, but then he says a single name that freezes the words in her throat. Silence on her end for a moment, before she manages a hoarse, "Used to be." The reason she hates perfect memory flickers away behind her eyes. Everything he said to her. Everything she said back.
There's silence on the other end for a long moment, then, "A friend of his, Teo Laudani, isn't what he seems to be. There's something in control of his body. And whatever that was called me, told me that Gabriel was unconscious and where he was. But when I got there, he was gone." Sal pulls a deep breath. "Have you seen him recently?"
Gillian can only listen as the simple phone call about a personal matter spirals disastrously out of control. "What?" is all she manages at first, until she has to find somewhere to sit down in the safehouse she stopped to call from. He doesn't need to repeat a word, though. Luckily. She's more than capable of remembering everything he said. "I saw Teo… earlier this month. He— I know we were told not to talk to— No one mentioned he was possessed." It's not far fetch. It happened to Gabriel earlier in the year. Gabriel who was unconscious. Gabriel who is missing. Gabriel whose last words to her were to let him go. Good thing he can't see the tears running down her cheeks again, but he can hear the shaking in her voice that isn't anger at not being told the details of Teo's condition.
"I don't know why Phoenix leadership saw fit to not tell people that Teo's been hijacked by something. But I told Gabriel so this…thing wouldn't use him and trick him. And…I think he went after him. To try and exorcise that thing. And whatever it is that's in Teo, hurt him." Sal can hear the pain in her voice. It isn't too far from the way his own was shaking not long ago. "The thing in Teo called me, told me it was my fault and told me where to find him. Either he lied, or something got to him first. If he was hurt…do you know where on Long Island he would go?"
"Of course Gabriel did that, he was fucking possessed for weeks," Gillian grumbles, understanding why he'd go and do something of that nature, even if she can't help buy close her eyes. "Teo was the one who comforted me when I found out… fuck," she growls from where she's leaning back into a chair. It's painful, but no more than the whole conversation she'd had with him where she didn't notice a thing wrong. Sure they're not close friends, but… "No— no I don't know where Gabriel would go."
It's almost as if he knows what Gillian is thinking, or rather, many people have had a similar reaction. "Don't kick yourself for not being able to tell. I think some of his friends are convinced it is still him. I…" Sal draws in a deep breath. "Teo and I are…close…" she can read between the lines. "He fooled me for a whole weekend. I only knew something was wrong when he attacked me. But that's why I know something is very wrong. For one? He…likes Gabriel." Which is hard for him to say. We won't get into that now. "My Teo wouldn't hurt him unless he was hurting someone else."
"I'm not— I know he wouldn't hurt Gabriel," Gillian says. She knows this, and she knows that it would be true even if she hadn't made a deal with Phoenix on those exact terms. Help them as long as they didn't hurt Gabriel unless they absolutely had to, and unless he went off the deep end after telling her to let go of him… "I don't understand why people aren't doing anything." It sounds like Gabriel was the only one who tried— but… "Thank you— for telling me. If I see him again… maybe I won't be so clueless."
"I…am treading a dangerous line. I don't want to defy Helena and the others, but I feel like his friends have a right to know." There's a pause and a shuffle of the phone. Sal clears his throat. "I had to tell Gabriel because he could be a very dangerous weapon if this fake Teo tricked him into helping with whatever his plans are. I…" he sucks in a long breath. "…I changed his face. He doesn't look like Teo anymore. I couldn't let him ruin Teo's life."
"I don't know what he was doing— I tried to ask him why we were told what little we were," Gillian says, frowning faintly. His mental voice sounded just like his real one. The whole conversation had been telepathic. How come she couldn't tell that he was possessed? "He said he was trying to fix things… something to do with what Helena and the others brought back about the future. He thought things were going worse rather than better and— I don't know. I didn't tell Helena cause Teo was the reason I was still with Phoenix. I trusted him more… and no one said why. I figured they just had a disagreement." Which still made her side with Teo. "Whatever— whoever the fuck is in him is up to— you're right, Teo shouldn't suffer for it."
Sal is quiet as she speaks, like he's bracing for her to affirm, like so many others, that it has to be Teo. When she doesn't, there is an audible exhale of breath. "I don't even know if Teo is still alive in there," Some of the shake that was plaguing her voice enters his. "This thing might be…undergoing some kind melding with Teo. He knows things. Personal things. And can sound just like him. Like I said, he fooled me for a whole weekend when it was just the two of us. So I'm not surprised other people aren't convinced he's under an outside influence. I don't think Helena is convinced. Despite the fact that this thing in him is doing things Teo never would."
There's the sound of something being poured and various other shuffling sounds. "Gabriel and I…aren't exactly friends." Or even really allies. It's more that neither really has the desire to hurt the other outright. "So I don't know who to tell to try and find him. I told Helena. If you know who could help look for him, maybe you should give them a call."
"There's someone staying at the Garden," Gillian says, unable to hold back a hint of jealousy in her voice. She bites it back after a few moments when she speaks again. "Names Eileen. Ask the lady in charge— if she's still there, she might be able to find him." But she doesn't particularly want to ask her herself, sounds like. "Do you need blood samples? Cat seemed to think you'd just need saliva or hair and stuff— how much do you need and where should I send it?" Luckily she doesn't need to write anything down, but HELLO subject change.
"I think it would be better if someone else approached her. I'm about to be out of regular contact for a few days." It doesn't have to be Gillian, just not Sal right now. But yes. Subject change is good. "Blood samples would certainly be far easier. And you can leave them at one of the Manhattan safehouses. I'll come by to pick them up."
"I'm not a doctor, so are you needing like a vial of blood from the movies or just blood on something?" It's a valid question. Gillian isn't about to be wanting to take blood samples from people if all she needs is a drop on something.
"A vial would be good," a pause, then Sal rattles off the names of a few Ferrymen qualified to draw blood. Ben's name is among them. "Definitely don't go randomly sticking yourself or your relatives with a needle. One of those people should be able to help you."
"I'll grab contact numbers," Gillian says, not planning to ask him to rattle them off when she can get them herself. The names are enough to start from. "Should I give you a call when I drop them off somewhere?"
"Yeah, give me a call. I'll come by and pick them up. Make sure they're labelled clearly, and I'll try to turn the test around for you as fast as I can. It might take a few weeks though," says Sal. He's glad to be on to more, ahem, clinical topics.
"Weeks? It only takes days on television," Gillian grumbles a bit. Clinical topic is easier. "I'll do what I can. It might take a while to talk the boys into donating their blood." Since she's the only one who knows of the situation. Maybe she SHOULD ask other Brian to do the blood taking. At least he'd know why it needs to happen. "Thanks again… should I just call you Sal?"
"It only takes days on TV because otherwise it would take til the end of the season to solve the case from the first episode," says Sal with a hint of a grin in his voice. "Yeah, just Sal's fine." She might piece together the timing of Sal Silvatti's departure and Sonny Bianco's arrival. Especially given the similar abilities. But given she's in league with Phoenix and Ferrymen, he just has to trust she won't try to blackmail him, or worse.
"Thanks again, Sal," Gillian says, obviously having just wanted a name. A few moments later the phone hangs up, clicking off. Why can't things ever go like on television? It would be so much easier if they just solved the case in the same week. At least no one's in the room to see her continue to cry.