Participants:
| Scene Title | Weight of the Situation |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Searching for some birthday company, Harmony finds Liz at the safehouse where some catching up on things is had, and with the help of Jaiden, she hopefully gets the bigger picture. |
| Date | April 10 |
Ruins of Cliffside Apartments
This three story industrial structure was once the home of Cliffside Apartments, now just a fire-gutted shell of a building. When an inferno tore through the lofts and studios nothing was spared. Only the crumbling brick walls of the building still remain, roof gone leaving exposed sky to where wooden supports and flooring have all collapsed inward. The skeletal frames of tall studio windows are devoid of glass, and all the shards of people's ruined lives lay buried in heaps of slag and charcoal.
Harmony wonders why she can't find anyone around anywhere. It is supposed to be a special day for her, and yet things just seem to be falling apart. Not a very happy birthday for the still young blond: Can't find Richard, the office was destroyed, people are under investigation, and allergy season has started. To top it all off, the heavily pregnant girl is walking around, carting a bottle of Jack Daniels(unopened) in her hand. The assuming looks and head shakes she gets go generally ignored. She has searched places for signs of life, turning up fruitless at the library, so perhaps at the second safehouse. This is her last shot before she is gonna turn in the towel and head home just to watch movies, making her way inside, calling out, "Hellloo? Is there anyone here? Richard? Anyone?"
Good Lord — subtlety is apparently lost on several of the new members. And Elisabeth's wound tight enough that it's time to make very clear. On the run means for heaven's sake, don't SHOUT in a safehouse that's supposed to be abandoned! The sounds of her footsteps are muted but she's literally jogging down the stairs to the main level. Those living here right now have taken over the second level — easy egress from multiple points including windows if they have to do it but off the main level and out of easy eye and earshot. Aside from the audiokinetic. "Harmony!" the blonde fugitive hisses as she comes down the stairs. "Woman, what are you doing here?" She doesn't sound angry so much as … alarmed. "Are you okay?"
Finally, she finds someone. There has got to be a better way to stay in the loop.. which.. actually she isn't really in the loop right now, so.. Yeah. But hey, Liz is here, so Cardinal probably isn't too far away. "Yeah, I'm fine." Harmony shrugs, sorta missing the point of being discreet in the safehouse. Her power is back, so it can be expected to have the free and wild Harmony in function again. "Are you okay? You look.." she struggles to find the words, frowning and pursing her lips, "Disheveled? Or something?" she holds up the bottle of alcohol, "I brought provisions.. It's totally my birthday, and I'm used to drinking heavily but.. that isn't gonna happen now." she reaches with her free hand to rub her swollen belly, "So I figure someone else can get smashed for me, and it'll be some kind of consolation prize… By the way? Where is everyone? I tried the library first, but it was totally trashed. What has Richard been doing?"
Elisabeth's not terribly shocked. The library was where she assumed he'd put his new string map — which would most assuredly need to be trashed. "Happy birthday, sweetie. Come upstairs. He's playing scorched earth with Redbird because he's hoping to get Humanis First blamed for it. It's the first salvo of a multi-pronged plan," she says, taking the bottle from the pregnant woman. "C'mon — we gotta talk about safehouse protocols. And pregnant girls are not supposed to be traipsing around this area. Are you trying to draw attention?" she clucks gently. "We're all wanted, Harmony. For heaven's sake, the last thing I can afford right now is to have you taken by the DoEA — Richard'll go fucking ballistic. Moreso than this."
See, she can kinda understand it, when it's put to her like that. It is actually the first clear answer she has gotten since it all started. She mostly figured Richard was just keeping her out of it as not to have her targeted, which is fine, but eventually it can be assumed she will go looking for answers. "Ah. That sounds sooo like him. You know, I've been wondering if that stuff is genetic, because.. I'm not sure if the world is ready." Up the stairs she goes, following after her, carrying the bottle tight in hand. "I got bored, and wanted to know where people were. It really sucks sitting around on your thumbs."
There's a faint sigh. "Yeah," Elisabeth agrees grimly. "I know. So he wasn't at the library either? I was kind of hoping he'd be able to hole up there, but … it's known to the DoEA as an old Phoenix haunt, so I'm not surprised." She pauses, and something occurs to her, bringing a faint smile to her lips. "I might have to send someone to go salvage his roses," she comments absently. "Anyway…." She gets Harmony up the stairs and takes that bottle. "Give me that. I'll get a shitload more use out of it than you will," she observes. Once they're up in what passes for the living quarters, the common room where they held their meeting not that long ago, Elisabeth says, "Okay…. so here's the thing. You are carrying not one but two children that the man running the Institute is likely to want badly. Which means we need to keep you way under the radar. I promise you, Harmony — if that fucker tries for you or God forbid gets to you…. nothing he says can be believed. Not one thing. And Richard will go in there with a fucking tac-nuke to get you and the kids back." She's pretty damn sure of that. "So… let's keep that from coming to pass, shall we?"
"Oh. He won't get them easily, I can tell you that much. I'm back in action, and I don't think he will do well on the receiving end of my ability. Mother protecting her young.. Force to be reckoned with." Harmony shakes the bottle with a bit of a smirk, handing it over. It isn't that she doesn't take this situation seriously, she just has a decent amount of confidence. Which can be a bad thing or a good thing at times. "I talked to Richard the other day, when my power came back and that red lightning knocked me across the room and made me hit my head. I'm okay, it was just.. scary for a bit. Which.. I found out. Boy and a girl, from last ultrasound. Soooo.. I kinda already picked names." she wrinkles her nose. "But.. you're right too. Need to stay low on the radar. Probably doesn't help when people guess that I'm carrying Richard's children. That Dr. Brennan guy certainly did."
"Oh Jesus!" Elisabeth practically yelps. "You went to Brennan??" She doesn't know the doctor well at all — but she does know what he did for the girl, keeping her out of the Institute's hands. For a while. "Your brother's still staying with you, right?" she asks quietly.
When Cardinal sent her to Brennan, he neglected to tell her that he was apart of the Institute. This is what happens when information is not given to her properly. She even looks confused as to why Liz is freaking out about Brennan, "Yeah.. Richard sent me to him. He was really nice. He said he'd be availably for negation for the birth if I needed. I thought that was a pretty sweet deal. I mean.. if 'Bennett' isn't available." With her back being a little sore today, Harmony puts her hands on her hips and leans forward a bit. She has been walking. "And yeah. Nate is still staying with me. Between his ability and mine, I think we have a pretty solid defense. Annnnd.. then there is Curtis.. who.. I think is mad at me right now for some reason. It's like.. a constant thing with him."
"All right. From here on in, Harmony…. nobody else knows who the father is. No one," Elisabeth says insistently, setting the bottle down. "I don't know what Zeke will do if he finds out about you, but we can't take that chance. Not with me and Richard both probably with arrest on sight or even shoot on sight orders out on us." She grimaces and shoves her hand through her hair. "Christ. And if Curtis comes to see you, for God's sake…. Harmony, he's under investigation right now too. He's got to be, with what I did out there. By giving the Ferry the information on the raid, I put suspicion on my entire team. And he was out there on that airfield."
Ever since going on the run, Jaiden has made it a point to keep an eye on odd comings and goings here in the slums. A taxi appearing, then stopping and letting out a woman, then driving on is something that gets his attention so, after she's well and truly inside the safe house, Jaiden makes his way inside through the back, hitting the little dangling wind chime by the back door to give Elisabeth a clue that someone else is in the building.
"I did not tell him! I swear to God." Harmony holds up her hands in a defensive posture, her eyes wide to convey her innocence. "Maybe Richard told him, I don't know, but right before I left, he said 'Tell Richard his babies are going to be just fine.'" As she thinks about it and scratches her nose, Harmony shakes her head, "To me honest.. with Richard sending me there, it's kinda obvious he might be the father. I mean.. he's pretty involved. But I've generally not said anything about it." She puffs out her cheeks, adopting a vexed look, "I've totally become the girl who has no idea who her baby daddy is to the public eye. It sucks.." She waddles a little, easing herself to find a seat and settle down inside of it. "So.. I can't see Curtis now, either. Great.. Yanno.. this is the kind of stuff that pushes people over the edge."
Harmony of course isn't as observant about someone else coming in. She doesn't know who knows about this place, or who frequents. But she does hear something.
Elisabeth's blue eyes slide toward the door, her gaze faraway for a moment. Skills Conrad taught her years ago are coming into play a lot more lately — she can tell who the inhabitants are from the way their bodies sound to her. Gait, breaths, the way Monica's joints pop, the heavier sound of Jaiden's tread, the absolute silence that is Trask. Reasonably certain of her ID of the incoming person, she turns her eyes back to the woman in the chair and squats down in front of her. "Harmony. The man running the Institute is a future fucking version of Richard himself. A time traveler who has lost everything. So far as I'm aware, you were never part of his timeline — which means your babies weren't either. This man came back through time and is desperately trying to make sure the child he does know about is born. Do you think for a second that he won't take your two and 'keep them safe'?" The last is very definitely in air quotes, though Elisabeth's tone is gentle. "Do you think, with the DoEA out there looking for Richard right now, that they wouldn't haul you in and hold you as leverage against him? You're important in this."
As quiet as Jaiden is, there's no mistaking his tread on the stairs - even when he pauses to step over that one that creaks so loudly if you put pressure on the front edge. It is only a few moments until his gentle rap on the door jamb heralds his appearance. His brows go up slightly at the sight of a new face in their little safe house, glance flicking to Liz for a second or two before they go back to the woman. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important…" He moves to plug in the coffeepot, his power drawing water from the air to start it percolating. As he is a good reporter, job 1 right now is to just listen and catch up.
That is the thing for her, Harmony was just a girl before. She just likes to live and almost damn the consequences. And then in getting tangled up with Richard Cardinal, she is plopped dead center in a science fiction story. Sometimes the bigger picture is missed. "I— I guess you're right." Harmony looks down at the ground for a bit, taking it all into perspective. "I dunno, I guess.. it's just that you guys are so well trained, and have been doing this for a while now, and I'm kinda.. not. I don't really like playing the part of the damsel waiting for someone to save or protect her. It's never been my style. And I suppose my biggest job right now is protecting little Ricky and Kyrie. The best ways I know how.. The hormones have sorta slacked off a bit, so that's good. And human contact has been minimal to avoid.. well what you're talking about." she sighs, head shaking one direction to the next, "I just.. hate not living is the thing I guess."
When Jaiden comes into view, Harmony's jaw opens to continue speaking and then closes, not quite knowing Jaiden to know if she should speak about it. When she starts talking about the twins, people who shouldn't know, seem to find out they're Richard's. Which Liz just told her no.
Elisabeth looks up and nods to Jaiden. "Harm, Jaiden. Jaiden, Harmony." She's obviously pregnant, and well…. "Jaiden knows what's going on. Not everyone around here does, but he's in the loop." She moves to stand up with a sigh, putting a hand on Harmony's shoulder. "You can be all commando bitch with me when you're not looking like you swallowed a beachball. Just… I need you to treat this seriously. I don't want you acting suspicious, I want you to focus on the kids and let's just hope to God that we can get you through the next months without you going underground, okay?" She glances at the reporter. "Anything?" Because one of the things they're doing is listening for news out there.
"Charmed, I'm sure." Jaiden nods to the very pregnant Harmony, giving her a smile before turning his attention to Liz. "Not much that I can tell, really. Got some nice shots of the Redbird building going up…might make for an interesting background for something, and word on the street is mainly confusion, so…nothing yet." He shakes his head. "Dorry."
Harmony raises a hand and wiggles her fingers in a greeting, offering a smile, "Hi." Noting Jaiden as someone who is in the loop. "Yeah.. so don't wanna go underground. Not the place to have children, really. I'm just hoping that by the time they're old enough to know who daddy is, most of this stuff will be over, and Richard can have a semi-normal relationship with his kids. Oh! By the way.." Harmony frowns, "Richard said something that totally pissed me off on the phone. We got to talking about the kids, right? Because for some reason it escaped him that I'm only having twins and not triplets. So I assured him he'd still have two healthy kids hanging around his neck, calling him daddy, and do you know what he said to me? 'I only hope I'm around to see them born.' Seriously? He got all evasive after that, so.. I dunno." she looks to Jaiden, "Would you say something like that to a pregnant woman carrying your kids? After promising that you would always be there for them? I don't care if he is Richard Cardinal. That shit ain't right.."
Elisabeth shoves her hand into her hair. "Harm…." She's trying, very hard here, to make sure that the younger woman understands this. "He shouldn't have said it. But I think he was trying to make sure you understand the severity of the situation. I'm not joking. We're on the cusp of a war here. And if we don't thwart it…. " What can you do? She's honest. "You need to take your blinders off. This is a dangerous thing we're doing. It makes us targets — and they're not fucking around. They're going to bring guns, powers, negation gas, and tanks to the fight."
"No, things like that shouldn't be said when things are as crazy as they are now." He glances to Liz again, before taking a seat on an overturned milk crate. Yay for unfurnished safehouses. "Elisabeth's right, Harmony. You're carrying two very important things inside of you - things that, if the right people or, rather, the wrong people got a hold of them, they could be used to pretty much destroy Cardinal and anyone else he might have ever allied himself with.
"Okay, okay. I get it, I get it." Harmony surrenders, "I need to be more careful and a bit more quiet about the real identities of my children. It's all just.. surreal." she plants her fingers on her forehead, adopting a similar stressed out position that is often seen with Cardinal. "This future stuff is very complicated." she peeks up through her fingers, looking at the bottle of Jack on the table, giving a bittersweet smile, "Mm. I so need a drink." she points accusingly at the bottle and shakes her head, "So lucky.. So so lucky." she grimaces at it, "Are you gonna open that and toast to my birthday or is it just gonna sit there? I hit the halfway mark today. I just turned 25, and this is the first year I won't be able to get wasted on my birthday. Both of you.." she looks between Liz and Jaiden. "There isn't any news right now, all we can do is sit and wait, so no sense in letting a good time go to waste. Drink up, get some stuff of your mind."
Well… she seems to be getting it. Thank goodness. Elisabeth walks to the counter and says, "Tell you what… I'll drink to your birthday. Before I go to bed, okay?" she smiles at Harmony. "Now… tell me what else is going on? We've got a Ricky and a Kyrie, hmm?" Because she needs something good to talk about, and while Harm's children make her heart ache just a little, she's got on her big-girl panties about the entire situation.
"Any middle names to speak of?" Jaiden shifts on his milk crate, smiling to Harmony. No sense in talking about bad stuff when good stuff is on the cusp. "And when's the due date?"
"Actually, Richard Vincent Roberts, but we'll call him Ricky. I'm sure Richard will be happy with that name." Harmony's nose scrunches up, "Ricky Roberts.. kinda sounds pretty rockstar to me. Can't you just see him saying something corny like Richard? Like.. 'Time for some R&R.' Or some such." she holds up a finger, reconsidering that, "On second thought, he'd probably learn something like that from Nate. Nate will say some corny shit. Out of nowhere, it's like.. Oh my god.. You've got the looks, the body and the charm. You'll never find a decent man if you keep spitting corn." she shakes her head, "I worry about him sometimes. Anyway.. Richard wanted to give the name of Vincent, so I stuck it in the middle, and it just kinda flowed. Kyrie.. well, that was a bit more complicated. Kyrie Lyrik Lillian Roberts. My mother's name was Lily, and Nate already has dad's name, so.." she shrugs, "He also came up with the name Lyrik, which I was initially against, but.." she teeters her hand back and forth, "It grew on me." She has to actually count the days months for a moment. "Mmm.." she bites her bottom lip thoughtfully, "Around late September, early October. 29th to the 3rd, generally."
Elisabeth listens to the names, and she actually opens the bottle and helps herself to a swallow from it. We've got to get through the whole summer. "They'll likely be early," she observes quietly. Having done a little reading. "Twins rarely make it the whole time… We should be planning for late August just in case."
Elisabeth listens to the two of them talk, and she smiles faintly. The one swallow she had of the bottle won't be enough to impair her. But it was nice. She caps the thing and leaves it on the counter, then looks at them. "I'm going to go up and take a watch. Harmony… rest. Seriously." Her blue eyes are worried. "You come again if you need to, but … the more often you do, the more often we'll be in danger, okay? If you need me, text. I'll leave you the number." She offers the younger woman a quick hug around the shoulders, and then she heads upstairs to take a position on the roof where she can listen and watch until she's relieved.