Participants:
| Scene Title | Better Or Else |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Brennan scrabbles his way to the brick house to catch up to Melissa, Liette, Kendall and the others who are taking refuge there. |
| Date | April 4th, 2010 |
This spacious two-story building rises up off of the coast of Long Island City. Surrounded by a high chain-link and razor wire fence, it looks like it has been abandoned for decades. Windows are bricked up, doors are boarded shut, and the grounds are unkempt and overgrown. Access to the building seem impossible, unless one was to pry off the boarding or simply smash through one of the walls. However, to the Ferrymen this structure is simply an extremely secure safehouse.
True access to the safehouse called the Brick House is made via an abandoned lot on the edge of the East River beyond the actual building. Here, an overgrown cellar hole from a factory that was demolished decades ago gives way to a concrete stairwell and a heavy iron door. This entrance is staffed by a Ferryman operative at all times, and accesses an underground tunnel leading to the basement that once connected the factory to the building that has become the Brick House.
The basement levels are cold and damp concrete shelters with freeze-dried food storage's and a small armory of illegal firearms used in the defense of the safehouse. The upstairs floors are poorly furnished rooms with peeling wallpaper and paint, old dusty wood floorboards and seem to be in a constant stare of repair and renovation.
With only two windows on the second floor — facing the river — not bricked up, the building has a somewhat stale smell to it, and is lit only by artificial lighting of lamps and on occasion candles and lanterns.
It's a quiet evening. Moreso since there are fewer people here than there were at the Den, and the younger kids are asleep in their beds. Melissa has left all of those she brought with her to this place to sleep, and has wandered out to the one area with windows that aren't bricked over. She's opened one of them, and is half leaning it out it to enjoy a cigarette without smoking everyone else out. She has to be cold, and she still looks tired, and makeup-less. Someone really needs to learn to unwind.
Taking round about ways to get to anywhere in this weather can be tiring, cold and .. tiring. So is dodging technopaths. But there's someone fast approaching the brick house, hunched over and dressed in layer to combat the cold of the evening. A strange form at first and hard to discern who it might be in the dark with no lights visible to illuminate who's coming up the steps.
Melissa frowns a little as she sees the figure, and she uses her fingers to put out the cigarette and hide the cherry of it from the approaching visitor. Just in case. It's probably not anyone she needs to worry about, but she's become paranoid the last few weeks. She moves away from the window, and her hand moves behind her back to rest on the pistol nestled there, watching the top of the stairs cautiously.
There's a knock, a warning, and then door opening. Brennan peels off his hat quickly as possible so that he doesn't end up like Melissa's hand is reaching - Getting shot. The safety procedures for going into a safehouse gone through as he closes the door behind him and comes face to face with Melissa. "Honey, I'm home, hows the kids?" Trying to inject some humor into a probably humorless worried household.
Melissa relaxes visibly and her hand emerges from behind her back. "They're good. A little scared still, and confused, but they're as good as they were at the Den," she says, closing the window and moving over towards a chair to plop down into it. "How were things on your end?"
'I'm alive! Which I'm sure will relieve Liette to no end" He's peeling away layers. "The girls are good. Michelle was glad to have me for a few days. Else and Delilah were settled in at the hospital. I put Francois on my service so that he can go in and see them. Stated they were new patients of mine and that he'll be checking in on them for me." Brennan stomps his feet, getting rid of snow. "Did a press conference for the Department of Evolved Affairs, about what they're doing on Roosevelt Island and discussed the H5N10 virus"
Melissa smiles faintly. "Alive is good. And yeah, Liette will be happy." Then her brow furrows a little. "You…why did you do a press conference for them? Aren't they behind the deal on Roosevelt that led to us being here right now?"
"The government as a whole is" Brennan informs Melissa. The Department of Evolved Affairs is putting their hand in the pot. What lead to here was as far as I know, someone knowing everything was there. I can't answer for them and their actions Melissa, I'm not Secretary Praeger. But I can say this. That vaccine? Came from them at my request. They're the ones who sent Liette and I back to the ferry and are trying to keep her out of Rebel's hands as much as the others here are trying" He points out. "Sometimes, there's a price to pay for some things"
There may be a price, but Melissa looks instantly wary. "The government sent you back to the Ferry? Seriously? And you didn't tell anyone? Brennan…we have a leak, and it's serious. If they knew to send you to the Ferry, and they knew that the Den was a safehouse, then we're seriously screwed. We won't be able to go back there, which means we're short a safehouse."
"No, I came back but didn't say where I was going. They sent me out with Liette when she first fell into my hands Melissa. I contacted them to find out if they knew anything about her. The response I got when they did was that I was to protect her, don't talk to anyone else, keep an eye on her and rehabilitate her to become a normal teenager."
Brennan peels off his gloves and looks back over to Melissa. "The leak is not me. I may have protected the Den by calling an ambulance before they could sweep the place. Ferry will have to keep an eye out, but it might be safe when things die down and the virus isn't rampaging through the city" The man straightens his back, seriousness coloring his features. "Only two people in the Department know about Liette and that she's with me Melissa. You may have no faith in the government, but I do. And I intend to do what's best for Liette and that means keeping her safe till plans are in place"
Kendall heard lots and lots of talking outside his room. Up until now, he hasn't been getting up to go see because he happens to have a dog on his legs, but eventually he wriggles free and peeks his head out the door. "Hey…?" he looks from one to the other, tilting his head queryingly.
Melissa shakes her head. "I didn't say it was you, Brennan. I couldn't see you doing this. But no, I don't trust the government. I have absolutely no reason I should, and plenty of reasons to distrust them. But you're missing my point. Teo said that they knew the Den was a safehouse. That's why they were coming there. If they know then it won't be safe anytime soon. And I won't risk anyone who might have showed up there looking for help."
Kendall's voice has Mel glancing over and smiling a little. "Hey Kendall. You can come on out. Jerry sleeping?"
"I heard everything that night Melissa. It could be easily as watching people come and go. Could have been this Rebel. In an attempt to flush out Liette or who knows. In this day and age, to keep a secret of the magnitude of the Ferry, is very hard and it works because of some reason I don't know. When they settled on making that place a safehouse before you came up, it wasn't before. They'll find another one Melissa, for you to run. I'm sure of it" Down to a sweater and jeans now, he looks over to Kendall as he appears. "Hey kid. How you feeling?" He'd checked in on him twice the whole time that he'd been at the den, both times Kendall was sleeping.
"Snoring." Kendall reports to Melissa, feigning annoyance by way of an exaggerated roll of the eyes. How could you possibly hate a snoring puppy? "Er… what are you talking about?" he couldn't really figure out how to phrase that in a way that doesn't sound like he's being nosy. "And I'm feeling a little better. At least, I'm not coughing up blood anymore." Ick. Blink at Brennan. Who is this guy, anyway?
"I'm not worried about having a place to run. I'm just concerned with everyone being safe," Melissa says to Brennan with a shake of her head. She looks back to Kendall, looking a little relieved. "I'm glad. Who knows, in a few days you could be as good as new." She glances to Brennan then back to Kendall, hesitating at his question. "We're talking about the government and the reason why we had to evacuate."
"I'm sure Melissa, that it was not the first time. I know it wasn't the first time. The garden was attacked by Humanis First long before I and Liette or you went there" He points out. He's pretty sure that having to up and leave with less than a half hours notice is not common, but not strange to the Ferry.
"Not coughing up blood anymore?" That seems good and Brennan glances to Melissa. "Where was my stuff taken, I'll take a look at you Kendall and see how you're doing"
"Are you a doctor or something?" Kendall asks Brennan. Makes sense, really, what with him asking about his health and all that. "Stupid government." that seems to be the extent of Kendall's feelings on that subject.
Melissa gives directions to where Brennan's stuff is, then she nods to Kendall. "Yeah, that's Doc Harve Brennan. He's the one who stayed behind with Else and the others. Because he's a doctor." And registered, and works at the Suresh center, but those are just details. "Now sit down. I'm worried you're gonna fall down."
"Ah. Didn't he write that book?" Kendall did do a little browsing in the library while trying to be subtle about researching the Evolved. He watches the man walk off, then leans against the wall. "I'm not going to fall." look, he's being stubborn, how cute.
"What book?" Melissa asks. "And just sit down, dammit. I can make you sit down, but that just seems mean. Besides, Jerry could wake up at any moment and knock you down."
"I forget. I just remember someone with that name on the cover of a book." Kendall has this odd talent of remembering random details from books, including what's on the covers. At Melissa's last words, though, he sighs and slides down the wall to a seated position, cross-legged. Happy?
Melissa sighs and rolls her eyes. "Well at least you're down," she mutters. "Glad to see that you can walk again though. You scared the crap out of me the other day when I found you on the stairs."
"Scared the crap out of you? I was afraid that I was paralyzed from the waist down or something and that I'd have to wear a diaper for the rest of my life." so Kendall has bizarre fears, what of it?
Melissa's nose wrinkles. "Damn glad you're not. 'Cause I am so not changing anyone's diaper. And you can be scared too, but damn."
"Well I'm sure it wouldn't have been as bad as if it was my arms instead. I don't know what I could do without my arms." with the amount of video games, card games, and computer games Kendall plays, not to mention his drawing and reading books, he uses his arms for everything he loves to do.
"Yeah, the arms are pretty important for most people," Melissa agrees, nodding. "I'm just glad you're doing better. The blood was pretty worrying."
"Blood in anyone's mucus is pretty terrifying. So many things it could be" Brennan says on his way back, leather doctor's bag in hand as he fishes around for his stethoscope. He offers his hand out once he's draped the medical equipment around his neck to Kendall. "Doctor Harve Brennan. Call me whatever, Doc tends to be it these days"
"I'm Kendall. Cunningham." although is he still, what with being disowned? "Who is Liette, anyway? Melissa doesn't really want me to meet her." he peers in Melissa's direction suspiciously.
"I'm fine with you meeting her, I said no hitting on her," Melissa explains with a shake of her head.
"Liette is my… girl" He won't say daughter. "Back in the room, you might get to meet her, she's bouncing around and likely to strangle me when she see's me" There's a gesture to the room he just came out of. "I assume Francois hasn't been around to check up on people yet?" This asked of Mel even as he's digging out a thermometer as well.
Kendall eyes the thermometer suspiciously. "You're not going to stick that in my ear, are you?" Kendall's already been aurally raped once. "Please say that's one of the NORMAL ones that go under the tongue?"
"They have thermometers that go in a lot more uncomfortable places than your ear Kendall. I'd be happy with that if I were you," Melissa says dryly, stretching her legs out and watching them both. "And nah, I haven't seen Francois. Just the kids and Joseph so far."
"No, this is not a rectal thermometer" He points out, slipping a cover over it and a motion for Kendall to go ahhhh and open wide. "Good. Well good that it's the kids and Joseph. Hopefully, I lost any taggers that might have been following. I was telling Michelle it was starting to feel like Africa all over again. Only less bloodshed" The machine beeps, one of the hand-held with a thermometer on a cord and he frowns. "You'll live, so far. Better than Else" But then again, most people seemed better than else.
Kendall wrinkles his nose and opens his mouth as instructed, and nearly goes cross-eyed as he watches the thermometer's display. "Still have a fever, huh?" he lifts a hand to his forehead and sighs. "What's that saying, starve a cold, feed a fever?" he looks at Melissa innocently. "I'm a little hungry…" when isn't he?
"Of course you are," Melissa says with a smile, rising to her feet, just as Jerry darts out of the bedroom. Clearly he heard the wood 'feed'. "Keep an eye on Jerry, and I'll get you something to eat. Behave for the doc," she says with a waggle of her finger and grin, before she points Jerry to Kendall. Then off she goes, in search of food!
"So you're her adoptee huh?" Brennan unwinds his stethoscope, puttering around Kendall to listen to his lungs and check to see if he is lying or not with regards to feeling somewhat better. "Still got a fever, not too high. Keep taking the ibuprofen. If you haven't already. A little bit of fever is good. Means the body is fighting to get better"
"…So then 'e said to me, 'no I don't know which bloody house it is I just had to go to the loo!'" Laughing at his own joke, and from the sounds of the number of footsteps the only one laughing at it, the noise of Andy Rourke — the Brick House's current operator — coming clomping up the stairs from the first floor is unmistakable. His clipped British accent and poor sense of humor is equally as notorious as his plodding footfalls and general lack of concern for the fact that there might be people trying to rest up here.
"I don't get it…" The second, albeit more reserved voice, belongs to one of the Brick House's newer residents. Trundling along at the operator's side, Liette seems an unlikely companion to the rather quirky Brit. Though Liette is an unusual companion for anyone living in the real world, with how detached she seems to be from reality at times.
Practically walking right into Melissa when the blonde comes 'round the corner towards the stairwell, Andy offers up a broad and toothy smile, gloved hands up to the sides and snow dusting his knit cap and jacket. "'Ey there birdie, I just got back from Grand Central, picked us up some real goodies." Cracking a smile, Andy moves to get right in Melissa's way and swings his backpack around, unzipping the top and revealing stacked cans of soup inside, brows lifted and smile wide. "Figured your sick'uns might need some soup, yeah?"
Blue eyes alight towards Melissa, Liette offers a tilt of her head to the side, one delicate hand reaching up and brushing a lock of hair from her own face as she considers the older woman silently. "Can I see Doctor Brennan?" Liette asks politely, rising up on the toes of her boots as she does.
Kendall wraps an arm around the dog, having gotten used to having a dog around instead of a cat and liking the change. Dogs don't put on airs and stuff, after all. "I guess, except she can't really adopt me because of something or other." Kendall waves his free hand up in the air, and coughs a little when Brennan listens to his lungs. He does still sound congested, which isn't unusual for this time of year. "She said it'd be best if I just stay with her, that way there won't be court fees if my parents decide to fight for, uh…" Kendall was about to say 'ownership' but that's not quite right.
When the sound of conversation drifts their way, he cuts his gaze that way, since one of them sounds like the Liette that he's not supposed to hit on.
"Close, hey, legal or not, you're mine, and vice versa," Melissa says before the near run-in with Andy. "Soup? Oh awesome. That's great. Thank you. You were at Grand Central though? How was…things?" she asks with a slight furrow to her brow.
Looking down to Liette Melissa smiles and nods. "Of course, honey. He's back thataway with Kendall. Watch out for him. Since you're about his age, he's thinking about flirting. Just ignore him," she says with a grin.
She reaches for some of the soup that Andy brought and smiles. "Kendall's hungry, so gonna go heat this up for him." She glances back to the German shepherd who looks pleased to be getting attention. "And find something for the eating machine."
"Bring the bag I brought with me when you're coming back Mel, there's stuff in there for the kids and Liette. Easter bunny stopped by my place for them" He can hear Liette and smiles. "Leeeeeeee" he calls out, ignoring like Andy that there's other sick people on the floor. "You better get in here lee before I have to come out there." That she's asking permission to talk to him has him a bit worried. "Don't need legal papers to stay with someone, just to adopt them and she can't adopt. I bet she'd be a good guardian though" He eases from around Kendall. "Keep up the rest. It'll suck but, rest, liquids, food Ibuprofen"
"Things're — " Andy doesn't even get to finish his sentence before the human whirlwind of activity that Melissa is snatches a can of soup from his backpack and makes her way down the stairs towards the kitchen to heat it up, "fine?" Huffing out a sigh and shaking his head, Andy quirks a brow down at Liette as the blonde begins skipping ahead of him towards the doorway down the hall that doctor Brennan's voice is coming from. Smiling, albeit faintly, Andy shoulders the partly unzipper bag again and shakes his head, watching Liette disappear out of sight before he turns back towards the stairwell, lazily following behind Melissa.
When Liette's clomping skips bring her on booted feet into the doorway of the room Brennan is tending to Kendall in, Liette slouches her shoulder against the door frame. "It's snowing really hard outside, Doctor Brennan, I can't even see the roads anymore." Wrinkling her nose, she eyes Kendall uncertainly, bringing up a hand to thread wavy locks of blonde hair behind one ear, before flue eyes flick back to Brennan.
"What's flirting? Liette asks innocently, but oh boy that's a heck of a conversation Melissa opened. "Melissa said to ignore it but I don't jknow what it is to ignore." The young girl finally leans off the door frame and starts meandering into the room. "Did she mean flitting? Like a butterfly?"
Kendall smiles at Liette, which totally counts as flirting in Kendall's book. But Melissa needn't worry; Kendall is probably as innocent as Liette when it comes to actually flirting. After all, he is a geek who probably spends more time playing video games than being around members of the opposite sex. what would he know about flirting? Likely his knowledge is restricted to reading about it or watching TV. "Hello, Liette, we didn't really get to meet. I'm Kendall." he eyes Brennan, making sure that he's not about to get stabbed with sharp pointy objects for talking to her.
"Fine is awesome! Did you see Steve while you were there?" Melissa calls back to Andy as she heads to the kitchen and prepares for soup making. Which in her case means adding milk and shoving it in the microwave. A chef she is not, and even that will probably come out inedible.
"I know Lee, I walked through the snow, should have seen me when I came in. I think I'm still a little frozen. I looked like a yeti" Over he comes to sweep her up and smother her in a tight hug. "Michelle says hello and sent some new clothes for you and the girls all sent some of their candy for you too." he released the teenager to let her and Kendall meet, sans any sharp objects.
"Flirting is something that all women learn to do and you seem to be a natural. I'm sure your Pop's will grind his teeth and sigh. And to ignore means to just… look away, do something else and pretend you didn't hear what the person was talking about. I'm pretty good at doing that when Michelle talks sometimes" He ruffles her hair, grinning. He steps back then, letting the two teenagers get to know each other. Temptation to go get coffee is strong and he drops a kiss on Liette's forehead. "Getting a hot drink, be right back"
"Who's Steve?" Andy shouts down the stairs, following behind Melissa on her way through the cold living room and towards the old, dilapidated kitchen. While the Brick House may be the most secure safehouse, it is most certainly also the most shoddy in terms of furnishings. The stove's pilot lights don't work, necessitating the book of matches settled next to it, and the cabinet doors are falling off, the countertops are warped and the avocado-colored linoleum in the kitchen is peeling away.
Leaving watery footsteps in his wake from melted snow between the treads of his boots, Andy comes up beside Melissa in the kitchen, slanting a side-long look at her. "I ain't got time to know everyone down there by name, you might wanna' be more specific. Most people I talked to was Neil and his brother when I picked up the necessities, talked weather an' all that… S'lookin' pretty damn girl out there, 'Lissa." Andy always shortens her name in the oddest ways. "Snow's so fuckin' deep in Midtown you can't even walk 'round anymore. When all this shit melts we're gonna have some serious floodin' issues."
Upstairs, watching Doctor Brennan with a furrowed brow and a silent stare, Liette seems to thoughtfully consider his words before she just peers back over at Kendall with narrowed eyes. Her head quirks to the side, one brow raised, and she silently offers a look back to Brennan on his way out, a smile playing with her lips as she wanders more into the room, then spots an upturned milk crate on the floor and settles down on it like a makeshift chair.
"I heard your sick…" Liette says in greeting to Kendall, teeth toying on her lower lip. "You know when I go home, I bet my pop could cure you. He's a really smart guy, and maybe Doctor Brennan will let you come with me, then you could come to the lab, and you could meet my sister and um…" Blue eyes avert down to Liette's lap, hands wringing together. "Everyone's sick lately…"
"I'd rather not be." Kendall admits to Liette. "Sick, that is." he specifies, in case she didn't know what he was referring to. "I wouldn't mind anything that would help me get better, this has been the worst part of my life so far." his tone rings true with that, since up until then he was just mildly miserable. "Who's your dad?" he asks, since it's not Dr. Brennan from her own words despite what he said earlier.
Melissa frowns a little at Andy when he joins her. "He's not Ferry. He's someone I took there a couple days ago. Needed to escape." She takes a moment to describe him. "Did you see him? Though I guess he might've been hiding again. He seems to want to…get away from people." And after what Abby told her, Mel can't blame him for that.
He lingers, just a few, before going to catch up with Andy and Melissa, clapping a hand on Rourke's shoulder as he passes by in search of hot liquid anything. "Was deep enough getting here. Word is that it's only going to get deeper and colder" Brennan concedes. "Hey, that girl upstairs, important that you don't spread it accidentally to other houses that she's here. Especially not ones that have anyone carrying cellphones or such" This to Andy. Melissa already knows.
But there's someone at the grand central? "How's the location? That guy a few tunnels over hadn't been harassing has he?"
"Gotcha, I'll make sure t'tell Meredith and Joe-Jesus too." Joe-Jesus? Oh, Andy. "Terminal seems good enough," he admits, turning around and crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the wall beside the kitchen door, dark eyes following Brennan through the kitchen. "Not as busy as it normally is, but I figure a lotta' people ain't headed down there 'cause of the bloody weather. S'makin' me wish I flew south for the winter, y'know?"
Quirking his head to the side, Andy glances over to Melissa, realizing only then that Brennan's entrance distracted him from her question. "Oh ah, dunno, darling. I don't think I saw your boy down there, I try not to get too friendly with people in our line've work you know? Everyone's always comin' and goin', some more permanently than others. Right now m'too bloody cut about how everything went down on Roosevelt Island to think much've anything else. I can't imagine most of the Ferry's seein' straight after that bullshit they pulled."
Shaking his head slowly, Andy looks down at the floor, tongue rolling across the inside of his cheek. "I wanna' know who fuckin' fed information 'bout the Den to them. That place was tucked up under out hat tightly, ain't making me feel real comfortable here knowin' they found it…" The truth of that matter, of course, is only known to a select few in the Ferry.
Upstairs and a whole grim conversation's reality away, Liette gives Kendall a somewhat frustrated expression. "I'm not allowed to talk about Pop, it's…" for the first time she falters in her usual line, "it's a secret." Now, though, she's starting to wonder why it is, starting to do what most teenagers do when presented with an absolute— question it. "Doctor Brennan's just a friend, he's keeping me safe from a technopath that wants to hurt me." Or so the story goes, at any rate.
"A technopath?" Kendall doesn't really want to admit that he has no idea what that is, but… "Is that like a psychopath?" there's lots of bad words that end in '-path'! ….or just a few. "I wouldn't know why anyone would want to hurt you, you're really cute." like that has absolutely anything to do with it. And didja hear that, Melissa? Kendall called her cute!
Melissa grimaces and nods at Andy. "Believe me, I am pissed. And if I ever find out who leaked the Den to the government, I will make them pay. Seriously." And her expression and voice say that she's very much serious about the threat too. "I have a few ideas, but nothing for sure. Wish I did."
Mel calms a little then sighs. "I'll visit Grand Central in a day or so, now that Brennan's here. Steve doesn't really know anyone else, and he has trust issues. He was seriously freaked out." And now she knows why, which is both a relief and a worry. Luckily though, she doesn't hear Kendall calling Liette cute, or she'd probably be bapping him on the head.
Jerry seems to be getting bored, waiting on food, and nudges Kendall lightly before wandering over to Liette and nosing at her hand. Pet me!
"Might be Rebel" That's Brennan's opinion. He's pretty sure Vincent didn't turn them in, not when he knew that Brennan was heading there with Liette and chance her getting swept up. There's hot water, there's instant coffee, add the two and you get a reasonable facsimile of caffeine. He can't hear upstairs either and that doesn't really bother him. "Hopefully… they didn't sweep the place fully and all the stuff in the Den can be salvaged" He offers, a silver lining of sorts. "By calling the ambulance, I had hoped that it would get skipped."
"Once this storm clears I'm goin' to go talk to Scott about what happened, see if 'e has any ideas on what went down at the Den." Andy shrugs his shoulders, staring down at the floor for a moment before leaning off of the wall of the kitchen. "I can't fuckin' believe you let them take Else." There's a sharper tone there from Andy, his brows tensed and an accusing look offered to Brennan. "I really can't fuckin' believe that." Tongue rolling over the inside of his cheek, the Brick House operator just turns his back to Melissa and Brennan, stepping out of the kitchen with a shake of his head. No answer either of them can give would really help smooth over that wound, not yet.
Upstairs, Kendall is confronted with a response that isn't quite as expected. "Of course I'm cute," comes the assertion from Liette with a slow nod, "Pop says we are, so he's gotta' be right 'cause he's really smart.' Shifting on the milk crate, Liette's blue eyes angle towards Kendall, looking him up and down as she arches a brow.
"A technopath is a person like us that can manipulate and control electronic devices, like computers." There's a subtle nod of Liette's head at that. "Technopaths come in a few varieties, each of them manipulating and harnessing information and control differently. Some require tactile contact and others control devices by broadcast emission. I bet that Rebel guy is a broadcast emitter, since he's never around when things go crazy."
"Oh, ok." Kendall shrugs it off, accepting the explanation for what it is. "I don't know a lot about powers since I tried staying away from it all for a long time." Kendall hesitates, but since she's telling him stuff he might as well too. "My parents… kicked me out because they found out I was Evolved." he admits to her. He follows Jerry over and sits closer to Liette. "When I found out I could do stuff, I tried not to, because… my dad always used to rant about how the Evolved should be rounded up and locked away. So…"
Melissa stares at Andy for a long moment. Then she shakes her head and picks up the bowl of soup, heading back upstairs to the teens and dog. "Yes, because it was our first choice," she mutters, more angry with herself than Andy's words. After all, she's the one who said Else was going to stay, so she believes it's on her.
Rourke wasn't there, Brennan's not going to defend his action to a guy who wasn't there. He just looks to Melissa then heads back upstairs with his coffee so he can check in on Liette, start checking in on the others and snag his bag along the way. Just because the other kids are in a safe house doesn't mean the Easter bunny can't pay a visit. He pauses at the doorway, sticking his head in. "No kissing, hand holding only, keep six inches between yourselves minimum" It's a teasing tone, but then again, Liette, she may just believe it.
Back straightening and posture proper when Brennan comes in, Liette looks back with a broad smile and gloved hands held up towards him with curling fingers, likely for the coffee he has. "I don't need to hold his hand, I don't think I can take his ability right now since he's sick!" Obviously Liette missed the mark there on that one. "Oh!" The blonde turns, completely oblivious to what Kendall had been talking about, the plight of his parents and their abandonment of their own son. It's as though the topic just sailed over her head, or perhaps she just nervously avoided it in its entirety.
"Kendall," Liette leans in, chin tilted up and eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the boy. "What is your ability? Maybe if you get better you can show it to me and I can copy it, Pop will be really happy if I have a bunch of stuff to give to Sis when I get home."
"Well… when I draw things, they become real, only not really." Kendall is being pretty vague about it. "I mean, I make illusions, but I have to draw them first. But anything I draw…" he lifts a hand into the air. "Shows up, and you can touch them and stuff. It's not very useful, sorry." he tells her. When adults show up, he nervously eyes them, and scoots away perhaps half an inch. Not more than that, though, he's at the teenage rebellion stage.
Melissa winces at Brennan's words. "No hand holding. Forget he said it was okay. Hand holding is not allowed. And oh my god. This isn't me. This can't be me. I like…" There's a glance to the kids and a grimace. "hand holding. Forget I said anything. Hold hands. I don't care. Just don't tell me about it."
Then Melissa is frowning a little at Liette. "Your sister has the same ability you do? How is that possible? Did your…" she trails off, shaking her head, and leaves the first two questions to stand.
"I think Liette has a twin" clone twin actually. It's like that sheep named Dolly. Only. Real. Maybe. Brennan's not got it all figured out. His coffee is relinquished to the 15 year old with a sigh. One sip was all he got to have. "No hand holding. No need to get kissy kissy" There's something drawn out of his bag, a big plastic gallon bag with all sorts of easter goodies in it. It's tossed onto the bed. "You can share that though"
"Julie?" Liette looks over her shoulder to Melissa. "Yeah, she totally has the same ability as me. That's how we share stuff!" There's an excited smile on Liette's face as she turns on the milk crate towards the door. "Julie and I are twins, we share the same ability because of how we were born! Whenever I find and mimic and ability, I can transfer it over to her if I want, and I can do it over long distances too, 'cause we've got a special bond, that's what Pop told me." There's a slow nod from Liette, her head quirked to the side. "She's probably really worried about me by now, since I've been gone so long."
Toying with her lower lip, Liette shifts her feet and looks askance at Kendall, one brow lifted. "Illusions are super useful," Liette comments as she cradles Brennan's coffee in her gloved hands, not drinking it so much as just nursing it and enjoying the aroma. She glances at the plastic bag afterward, one brow lifted, then looks back up and over her shoulder to Brennan with a smile.
Kendall looks at the plastic bag, and quickly stifles the eager look. He's not a kid anymore, where he'd be really excited over the easter bunny visiting. However, despite his personal desire to appear manly and adult, he keeps looking over at it. "Julie and Liette?" he chuckles a little. "Clever." when Liette mentions his power being useful, he shrugs. "Not as much as it'd be if I didn't have to draw it first. But what if I was ever in a situation where I couldn't draw anything? I might as well not have a power at all."
Melissa frowns as she has a seat, mulling over this clone thing. It has her glancing to Brennan. "I'd like to meet Julie someday," she murmurs absently, glancing back to Liette and making herself smile. "And Kendall, if you don't move it, I'm gonna throw something at you. Check the bag or something." There's a pause, then, "Hey Liette? Your dad ever mentioned someone named Juliette?"
"Hey Lee, if you share an ability with her, does it leave you and go to her and can you get it back again if she sends it back your way or is it a one time thing?" This has Brennan curious. He eases into the room and tosses a bag of candy at Kendall. "For you. Easter bunny was terribly prolific this year"
Pursing her lips, Liette looks up to Melissa and slowly shakes her head. "Not unless you count me and my sister. That's both our names, but Pop gave us different ones because nobody expected we were gonna be twins." There's a mild smile there at the explanation, and after a while is breathing in the scent of the coffee, Liette offers the cup back up to Brennan, her attention following that shift of her posture up to the doctor.
"Nah, only one of us can have an ability at the same time that we share. So if Sis has something I can't mimic it from someone else. Whenever I transfer stuff over I can't use it anymore, unless Sis wants to send it back to me. We can swap abilities back and forth as much as we want, until they fade away anyway." There's a purse of Liette's lips at that and a tilt of her head to the side. "That takes four or five months though, for an ability to fade away."
Arching one brow, Liette eyes Brennan curiously. "When'm I going to get to see Pop and Sis again, Doctor Brennan?" Always with the difficult questions.
"There's a character named Juliet in a really old story written by a guy named William Shakespeare." Kendall tells Liette, and fumbles the bag when it's thrown at him, dropping it anyway. Damn limp wrists. He picks up the bag with a nod of thanks at Brennan, poking around in it. Kendall doesn't tell her anything more about Romeo and Juliet since it's a tragedy.
Melissa's brows arch. "So all the powers you have you've only had for a few months? The aerokinesis and chemical thing and all that? I haven't met anyone else who can do either of those before."
"That's why you couldn't take Michelle's Atmokinesis Lee" He murmurs. He's focused on her rattling about her ability that he doesn't hear the one about Pop and sis as he takes the coffee back when she's done doing whatever with it. Likely replicating the caffeine. She'll be high all night, he's sure.
"How long have you been gone Lee?" He sits down on the floor, looking up at Liette with thick brows drawn downward - Not Gabriel eyebrows but they're getting there.
"Yep." Liette answers to Melissa's question, "My caretaker brought me down here to catalogue abilities from the List so that we could take them back home and they could get written down an' stuff. I'd do it every two months since I started living with Pop after the accident." Wrinkling her nose, Liette glances over at Brennan and quirks one brow, tilting her head to the side and seeming a bit puzzled at the notion. "I— I dunno about that, Doctor Brennan. I've never met an atmokinetic before, and Julie never gets exposed to anyone in the lab, so…" Liette's lips purse, her brows furrow and she tilts her head forward, staring at her feet.
"I mean… I guess if— if I got exposed to an atmokinetic effect and didn't realize…" she's playing the game of hypothetical analysis again, even without prompting. "…maybe I— maybe Julie borrowed it without noticing?" There's a look up from her feet, and Liette's tongue slides over her lips, brows lifted and a worried look in her eyes. She glances to Kendall, teeth toying with her lower lip, then Melissa, then back to Brennan.
"I— I never— " Liette seems both surprised and embarrassed, "I never thought of that before." In other words, she failed at her most favorite game of puzzling out the outcomes to difficult and confusing situations.
The conversation is fascinating, yes, but for some reason Kendall can't keep his eyes open all of the sudden. Maybe this is the 'lethargic' part of the symptoms of the flu? Gradually, he ends up falling asleep where he was sitting up against the wall, bag still in hand.
"Can you think of another reason that you wouldn't be able to take Michelle's ability, Liette?" Melissa asks, voice nice and soothing. "What accident are you talking about though, honey? You haven't mentioned an accident to me before." She glances over to Kendall, smiling a little. "Be right back," she says, rising to her feet and moving into the other room, coming out with a blanket, which she lays over Kendall.
"How about we move to another room?" he see's Kendall drift off and as Melissa goes to get a blanket, he's touching the boy's forehead and then easing him down to a comfortable position to sleep. Accident was new, certainly new. "I think lee, that you got the atmokinesis without knowing, probably last time you transferred abilities to your sister. I think your sister is missing you and is taking it out on the eastern seaboard"
Biting down on her lower lip, Liette's brows furrow and her head tilts to the side. "W— Well." There's a look at Kendall, and it's only now that Liette notices he's fallen asleep, and with him seemingly out of the conversation, Liette looks to ease up just a little. "Sis and I didn't always live with Pop. Before Pop saved us, we lived in another lab, but we didn't get to go out much. We were forced to stay with each other a lot in those special beds like the people at Pop's lab stay in so we were asleep a lot."
Getting up from the milk crate, Liette smiles as she watches Melissa tug the blanket up over Kendall, then offers a look back up to Brennan. "The doctors there weren't as nice as pop, and Doctor Meier was always sick and coughing a lot so it was kind've sad. But then one day there was a huge explosion and the lab that Sis and I were in collapsed and we got…" Liette's brows furrow, her chin tilts down and her voice becomes a little weak. "Then— Then we got buried in the rubble."
Swallowing noisily, she seems to have missed Melissa's assertion that the weather is because of Julie's longing for her sister. "We— we didn't have any powers 'cept for Doctor Meir's and it couldn't help us. So— so we were stuck and— and it was dark, and Julie was hurt and…"
Perhaps sensing Liette's upset Jerry moves back to her, resting his head on her lap and giving her cute puppy eyes. "Liette…if…er…pop isn't your real father, do you want to go back to him? Or would you rather us find your sister and bring her to you? Because if you don't like having the tests done and all that, you shouldn't have to go through it," she says lightly.
Shouldn't have gone down this road, this topic of conversation. He's quick to pull her down, coffee put to the side and get his arms around her, squeeze Jerry into the hug as well in as much as the puppy will allow. "Shhhh Lee, if you need to cry, go ahead. Sometimes, you gotta cry huh? Bad things happen and they do. But it's what happens after. What happened after hmmm? You had just the one ability, whatever it was, and along came pops? Something good happened, because you're here now" He points out to the young girl, looking over at Mel.
Making a quiet sound in the back of her throat, Liette glances over at Melissa, quirking one brow slowly. "Pop— Pop saved us from that building and the other doctors. He— he may not be my real dad, but he's the only family I have. Pop cares about me, and I like the experiments, I'm helping to make the world a better place with my sister. I get to go out and see the world, and Sis gets to help Pop in the lab and learn all about science and stuff. I— I want to go back." Because it's the only life she's ever known.
Sniffling softly and lifting one hand to wipe the heel of her palm at one eye, Liette nods slowly. "Y— Yeah. Pop… rescued me. M'not supposed to talk about it though, 'cause that's about Pop's lab and the people that work there." Teeth toying with her lower lip, Liette looks down to Jerry and offers a mild smile, reaching out to gently scratch her fingers across the dog's brow.
"You have your sister. She's your family. And you'll always have me and Brennan. Don't forget that," Melissa points out, even as Jerry starts licking Liette's fingers. "But I just want you happy honey." And safe, of course, but she's focusing on the happy part for now.
The institute is not what it seems. In many ways. Brennan rocks Liette like he does Marlena or the twins. "We know where the lab is Lee, your Pops was in the magazine. He talked about you in it too. Mel, it's in the bag, do you want to get it out for me? Page 58 I think." He tilts his head, looking down at Liette. "Your sister. She really misses you. She's the one making it snow. She's the one that Michelle says is really sad"
Closing her eyes and slowly shaking her head, Liette makes a soft noise in the back of her throat. "I don't know where it is," she admits in a hushed voice, "I've never been awake when I go home." That is the unfortunate truth of Liette's situation, while she can't ever unwittingly lead someone back to the Institute itself, she also is wholly unable to find her way home; she's Alice through the looking glass, trying to find her way back from where she came from.
Melissa nods and rises, moving to Brennan's bag and retrieving the magazine, handing it to Brennan. For now she's quiet, moving back to the chair and sitting down.
The magazine is taken, using his arms around Liette carefully, flipping through the pages until he comes to the article on Dr. Luis. "He was chosen as one of New Yorks twelve interesting people. He and I" Brennan's own page was flipped past. "He calls you and your sister, the apples of his eyes and that both of you, know how to make him get into a good mood no matter what. that he likes to dance to Lady Gaga with Doctor Suresh when no one is looking" Brennan smiles at this. For all that it seems that Pops might be doing experiments that are not ethical, he can't deny one thing. That the man probably does on some degree, care for Liette and her sister. "This bond you have with your sister Lee. There a way to talk over it? Or just abilities?"
There's a smile at that, though it's guarded. Liette's emotional tells that Doctor Luis is her father are subtle but frequent, and while she doesn't make any obvious confirmation to the point despite Brennan all but having the truth confirmed, she does seem relaxed by the stories told from the magazine. Leaning back against Doctor Brennan, Liette's brows furrow and her eyes divert to Melissa for a moment, then back down to the magazine.
"No… sometimes I can feel what she feels, but— it's not really like empathy. I didn't have my telepathic network when I met her, so I didn't get to link to Sis' mind. I… I was hoping to make a link with her when I got home, so that we could share it while I had the ability. M'gonna lose it soon… maybe another month."
Running her tongue over her lower lip, Liette looks quietly at Brennan, then back to Melissa. "I… I just wanna go home. If Julie misses me that much, if— if she's the one making this weather, then… then Pop wouldn't know she has the power, and when he does the experiments…" there's a slow shake of Liette's head. "S'why you can't stop the weather."
"Liette…is it your sister you miss? Or your father? Or just something familiar?" Melissa asks gently, while Jerry lays his head back down on Liette's knee. He's not getting more petting, so he's gonna relax!
'She's in one of the tanks right now isn't she" He murmurs, letting her read the article, resting his chin on her head. There's an urge to make an anonymous phone call. Hello, Institute? Jules is the one fucking up the weather. Stop your experimentation please for now. He looks over to Melissa when she asks her questions with a slight frown.
"What— kind of question is that?" Liette completely ignores Brennan's question in favor of snapping at Melissa. "I told you I miss my Pop! He's the only one who's taken care of me before I met you both and Julie and I are the only things he has left in the world!" Struggling out of Brennan's arms, Liette's up and on her feet with a flustered clomp of her boots. "I told you I wanted to go home and I meant it!" Scowling as she furrows her brows, the air whips briefly around Liette in a moment of emotional frustration before the girl takes a few steps away from Brennan and Melissa, both of her hands sweeping back over her blonde hair.
"I want to go home!" Liette shouts with a stomp of her foot. "I want to go home right now, you— you have to take me home, I want to go home! I want to go home!" Tears well up in Liette's eyes, dribbling down her cheeks as the wind swells again in a whorling gust.
"Shh….Sorry Liette, I didn't mean to make you upset. I just wanted to find out what you really wanted," Melissa says, mentally kicking herself for upsetting the girl. "Please, calm down. We can't go anywhere right now. You saw the weather outside. The snow is taller than any of us here now. We just want you to be happy. I swear it," she says, not standing up so she doesn't risk making Liette feel crowded.
"Please Liette…I care about you. I don't like seeing you upset," she says, raising her voice to compete with the wind, while Jerry retreats to Melissa, hiding himself against her legs with a soft whimper. Then her head tilts and she studies Liette with a thoughtful look. "You need to stop the wind too, honey. You're scaring Jerry," she says, comforting the half-grown puppy.
"That's it" Brennan's up, not trying to reign in Liette, a glance to Mel and lips pressed together in a tight line. His glance goes to Liette and the wind dies as she's negated. "Lee, you can't loose control like that. You could hurt people. Come on, lets go pass out the rest of the candy and sit and have a talk. Without others" Jesus Melissa. He thought she was better than this. "This conversation topic is off limits for tonight"
Hitching a breath in the back of her throat when her ability is negated, Liette winces and furrows her brows, shoulders hunching forward and head down as she just stalks a few steps away from Brennan. "M'going downstairs," she says in rather grumped defiance of Brennan's orders. Markedly, it's the first time she's ever defied a directive from a doctor. Being outside in the real world is corrupting Liette's carefully constructed boundaries and responses every day she's here, becoming more and more like the young woman and child she's supposed to be, even if somewhat emotionally stunted.
"Oh don't give me that look," Melissa mutters at Brennan. "I never said I was good with kids." In fact she's claimed the complete opposite. Especially kids who don't act like kids. Then she looks at Liette and sighs. "See, this is why I didn't want to take Kendall. I'm gonna screw the boy up. I just know it."
"I'll be down in five minutes Lee. We need to have a talk and you can't get out of this one. Not that you've ever tried to get out of one" It's a stern voice, but not so stern as the look that he levels at Melissa.
"Don't even think about starting with me, Brennan. I've had maybe three hours of sleep since I got here, I said I wasn't good with kids, and I'm not in the mood to be bitched at 'cause I made a mistake," Melissa says, rising to her feet. "You go talk to Liette. Me? I'm going to go try to get two hours of consecutive sleep," she says, walking away to find a bed to do just that.
Brennan doesn't say anything, but Liette can likely hear it in his head. He's unhappy with the stunt Melissa just pulled. He just gathers his bag with the rest of the candy to be passed out in the morning and his coffee, heading for the stairs towards wherever Liette is and hope she hasn't gone and taken off into the storm.
Melissa is silent too, though mentally she's screaming. Someone, if she doesn't get a day or two of downtime, may very well crack. Who knew being an operator in NYC would be so much more stressful than being a coyote in Georgia?