Participants:
| Scene Title | Unleashing The Hounds |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elisabeth pops by for some K-9 backup. |
| Date | July 3, 2021 |
Elisabeth never feels quite at ease in the Bastion. It's a space that she only seems to come to when she's dealing in bad news, so perhaps that's the reason. Unfortunately, today is no different. She's dressed for work in a pair of sturdy pair of dark gray slacks topped by a deep green button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, her badge on one side of her belt and her 9mm on the other, long blonde hair confined to a low ponytail that hangs to the middle of her shoulder blades. It's the weary air that surrounds her that's more the tell for most people; for Huruma, it's the not-so-subtle chaos of darker emotions beneath the surface of her calm expression.
The perfunctory knock at the door of Huruma's office is actually the last warning of arrival she gets, preceded by both a phone call from the front desk and the rolling tide of tamped-down rage mixed with a wrecking ball of other, deeper emotions like fear and anxiety. A tide that Elisabeth uses every trick she knows from lessons taught years ago by Kaito Nakamura to try to keep buried as much as possible from the empath. "Hey, lady," she greets quietly as she steps in, a folder under her arm. "Thanks for the time. Didn't really want to have this conversation on the phone."
Huruma knew precisely when Elisabeth had arrived, but preoccupation remained even when the other woman allowed herself into the office. Years ago it would have been an odd tableau, Huruma wrist deep in physical and digital inboxes- - these days it's a reassuring sight, especially in the wake of bigger things. And perhaps that is just part of why Liz is here in the first place, looking for the lighthouse in the gloom, confident that it will be where you left it last.
"Elisabeth." The knock is courtesy and so is the defacto greeting, Huruma's attention dividing itself from the folder on the desk getting wedged under her keyboard. A subtle strain in pale eyes sits behind a pair of sleek readers, similarly set aside. A brow raises across to Liz, its owner leaning back in her seat, hands linking across lap. "Whatever it is, it must be quite the turmoil."
"Mmm," Elisabeth returns, her smile for the empath faint but present. "Isn't it always, when I show up at your door?" Last time was alt-Rue kidnapping Richard Ray. She hates that it's another kidnapping of any kind. "Two things going on, related but… More important one is I need a kidnap recovery team on standby. It may be over state lines."
She pauses and then lets out a long sigh before laying the reason she came in person on the table, both literally and figuratively. "They're going after Ames Burgess-Tracy. As soon as I can pinpoint her, we're going to move quickly."
Isn't it always indeed. Huruma rolls a shoulder in a shrug at that. As Liz goes on, however, an increasingly- - and understandably- - agitated cloud forms in the empath's gaze. She sits straighter, troubled expression containing what Liz must know is an unadulterated rage.
Off the books from the sound of it, but it wouldn't be the first nor last. Wolfhound has a gracious bandwidth. A breath goes in, but seems to be held a moment longer than needed. "When did this happen? When was she taken? And by who?" It's less about where, and more about how many guns, in a manner of speaking.
Yeeeeaaaah. Liz knew Huruma would be pissed beyond belief. It's why she came in person – you don't tell someone something so important over the phone. She sets the file she brought in with her on Huruma's desk. It contains pictures of everyone of interest.
"Her grandparents kept her for Marthe while she worked at Elmhurst. When the evac order came on the 30th, they of course went with the flow, and from there they took off with her. Wouldn't tell Marthe where they'd evacuated to, and by yesterday they'd stopped answering texts."
Elisabeth sighs heavily. "Peyton Whitney has contact with her intermittently, when she can. Her ability takes a huge toll. Ames is okay, for now. The problem is, the grandfather is in with Humanis– " she corrects herself, "Pure Earth. The motherfucker has her in a camp I can't yet pinpoint, and they're planning some serious shit."
She sounds grim and her emotions, despite holding them tightly, are all over the map of rage and worry. "Based on what we could see, I counted at least 6, two of them part of that bombing at the concert last year. I'm sure there are many more, but I don't know if we'll have a headcount before we have to breach." Which means things could get very dicey indeed.
The folder barely has time to brush the desk before Huruma is leafing through it, devouring in the safest sense of the word. Perhaps not for the faces she copies into the back of her mind, but- -
"We do have a few files on this cell," Huruma addresses it as what it is- - insurgency. She stands and pivots fluidly, lips pursed. "And if what you say passes the sniff test," An idiom that she's clearly picked up from someone, with the tone she uses, "Aside from unknowns, it is also skirting federal task force territory… not that policies always hold weight." Her thoughts are abuzz; this instance is one where she is certain Liz and her people will be doing whatever whether or not they get firepower. That's just how it is.
"Elisabeth," Huruma's mouth keeps a mild purse as she studies the other woman. "Who knows what about this? If her grandparents have her, I do hate to say it, but they are what shields her there. We do not want her harmed, nor do we want a siege."
"As soon as I corroborate crossing state lines, the kidnapping has federal jurisdiction." Which technically Elisabeth herself does not. Not that it's going to stop her. "There's an Amber Alert out on the GhostNet and the news, with last-seen-with images of the grandparents. Tracy suggested we add to the alert that the grandmother may be under threat to sow distrust between the two, but I can't be sure that wouldn't backfire, so I haven't."
Elisabeth nods to the folder. "As of right now, the people in the know about that part are my SCOUT team and the interdepartmental liaison to SESA." Her lips quirk faintly in rueful amusement. "So… basically a fistful of Lighthouse-trained and Ferry rebels, all the ones you don't have yet in your own deck of cards. And Peyton Whitney because I needed her clairvoyance."
A pause. "I don't want a siege if we can avoid that. Peyton is going to keep working on seeing what Ames is doing – and if she can skip perspectives to one of the operatives to get a look at the map again, I'll give you what I get. Whatever they're planning, it's here in the Zone. Any way this goes, Ames needs extraction. I'm keeping the Pure Earth part of this out of reports – on paper and in the Alert, this is a simple custodial interference kidnapping." Just in case. Because Elisabeth might be just a twee paranoid about the idea they might have eyes anywhere.
"If it does turn federal, I can handle that much. Threat assessment is also in the job description." Huruma murmurs in response to the initial notes and follow up from Elisabeth, pausing to take in the rest. It's true- - people that Wolfhound never did get paws on. It takes a certain type, in the end, but they are more or less people which she has worked with before.
"I wonder… if calling in a paramilitary company over custody will look like overkill," Huruma skims one last portion of the folder's contents before closing it for now. Despite the situation, there is a dry smile on her lips, not quite to the eyes. "Peyton knows what she is doing, so I expect something more before too long, hm?"
Elisabeth smiles slightly. "Honestly? I don't give a flying fuck if someone tries to make it out to be overkill. Given that it looks like they're planning something ugly, Wolfhound is being called in because it's not simple custodial interference – it's kidnapping by a terrorist organization." Her blue eyes are steady on Huruma, despite the morass of concern for Ames and rage at Pure Earth in general.
"That said," she adds, "if we have a chance of sneaking in quietly and simply stealing her back, I'm all for that too. Ames's safety is my primary concern in all this. We don't have a SWAT team or a hostage response unit. And if it's outside the Zone, I don't have jurisdiction. I suspect that wherever this little camp in the woods of theirs is located, local law enforcement is next to nil so I don't have use of the kind of resources that would have once been available."
Liz rolls her shoulders to loosen the stress-tight tendons. "They can make all the fucking noise they want – I'll be able to justify the call if need be."
"Good." Huruma's eyes, already half-lidded, give Elisabeth an approving scan. They don't have SRU or SWAT like before, and that's already part of the Hound wheelhouse. The more above board, the less hassle later on once they make mince out of things. Considering what she knows about recent events, it stacks up to their advantage. "Everyone does so love a good comeuppance."